Less Than Beast, More Than Man
by beautifulpurpleflame
Summary: Beast Boy's having trouble with his primal side. Is he a man? Is he a beast? Right now, he just doesn't know. BBxRae
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 1

Fear. This scent was far more delicious than anyone could ever imagine. The change of scents between calm to fear was so drastic it could be detected immediately. His paws pushed him along the ground at a fast pace, leaves and branches whipping him as he passed. He felt his muscles burn and lungs beg for air as he picked up the pace in pursuit.

The scent grew stronger and he felt the hairs on his back tingle with anticipation and delight. His eyes narrowed as his prey came into view at last. They were out of breath, sweating, and their heart was beating a mile a minute. He couldn't ask for a better victim. He could hear their gasps and squeals of horror as he got closer and closer. At last he leapt and pinned his victim to the ground.

He dug his claws into their skin, feeling it pierce and hearing the screams of pain that came with it. He smelt blood in the air and his stomach growled impatiently. He smirked to himself and showed off his deadly fangs. He howled proudly as his prey lay helpless beneath him. Then he opened his jaw and went right for the throat. His fangs pierced the delicate skin and hot crimson blood poured onto his tongue…

* * *

"No!" Beast Boy cried as he bolted up.

His bedroom was dark and quiet, as it usually was at three in the morning. He felt his body trembling and he was soaked with perspiration. His heart was racing so quickly it nearly caused him pain and he felt fevered. He ran his tongue over his fangs again and again; he could taste the blood. But it wasn't there; it was never there.

He sighed and slumped forward, running his fingers through his moist hair. He then rubbed his tired eyes and threw his damp blankets off. Carefully he crawled down from his top bunk, still a little discombobulated from sleep. Once he was safely standing on the floor he pulled his night shirt and pants off and threw them into his dirty clothes pile that lay in the corner. The air on his wet, fevered skin felt good and he stood there for a moment in only his boxers.

He slid his door aside and poked his head out. As he expected, the hallway was quiet and dark. He stepped out and walked towards the kitchen, so he could drink or eat something to get the taste of blood out of his mouth. He found it quite liberating to be outside of his room in nothing but his underwear and it got his blood pumping, only this time in a good way. It was a welcomed feeling.

The common room doors slid open with a hiss and revealed the large living area on the other side. He turned the lights in the kitchen on and shielded his eyes for a moment. He slowly let them get used to the bright light and then went to the fridge. He looked around and saw Raven's bottle of all natural fruit juice. He grabbed it, threw the cap aside, and downed the entire thing. The cold liquid immediately wrapped around his brain painfully and as it slid down his throat it made his chest ache. When he was finished he took in a deep breath and let out a decent burp.

He wiped his lips and threw the bottle into one of the recycling bins. The sweet juice covered up the false taste of blood very nicely and he felt slightly relieved. Though his stomach was full of liquid he felt quite hungry now and decided to fix him self a snack. He put two slices of bread into the toaster and got out the peanut butter, since it was clear his body was craving protein. He got a glass out and filled it with soy milk. When the bread was transformed into toast he slathered them in peanut butter and combined the two slices together, creating a very nice midnight snack… even though it was three in the morning.

He took a seat on the couch and turned the television on. He took a big bite of his sandwich and began surfing through the channels. He couldn't believe how many channels were infomercials. He found an old movie and decided it was better than nothing, since he just wanted to get his mind off of the nightmare that had awakened him. He took another bite of his sandwich and then a good sip of his soy milk. He licked the excess peanut butter from under his lips and the roof of his mouth absentmindedly.

The time slowly passed and all that was left of his sandwich was the crumbs a few smears of peanut butter on his plate. His glass of soy milk was empty and his stomach was officially full now. But he didn't want to go to bed. He didn't want to risk picking up where the nightmare had left off. He leaned against the couch and let his neck rest. He felt so tired; he always did on nights like this. He swung his legs up onto the couch and reclined on his side, trying to get comfortable. His eyes tried to focus on the large screen but they blurred and crossed with exhaustion. Finally he decided to close his eyes and just listen to the corny film. But it didn't take long for his ears to grow deaf to any sound as he slipped into sleep.

"Beast Boy."

He sprung up, looking around confused. His back felt stiff and he was chilly. He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes; he could still taste peanut butter.

"You okay?" Robin asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said, moving his legs off of the couch and sitting up fully. He leaned forward and held his face in his hands for a tired moment. "What time is it?"

"It's six," said Robin. "The sun's just coming up."

"Oh," said Beast Boy, stretching his arms and then leaning back against the couch, his eyes closed.

"What're you doing out here?" Robin asked, taking a seat next to him.

"I got up to have a snack," he said, which was partly true. "I must've fallen asleep."

"Well, if you want to keep sleeping, I suggest going to your room," said Robin. "Unless you want everyone to see you in your boxers."

"Good point," Beast Boy said and slowly stood up, placing his hands on his tight back muscles. "Thanks for waking me up."

"No problem," said Robin with a smile.

Beast Boy gave him a small smile and then headed out of the common room. He dragged his feet along the various hallways and nearly stumbled three times. He reached his room and saw his door was still halfway open. He entered and closed it behind him. His room had a slight glow from the dawning sunlight and he quickly closed his shades, plunging everything back into darkness. He crawled up to his beloved top bunk and collapsed onto the mattress, passing out within seconds.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

His eyes cracked open and he moaned. What did Robin want now? He knew he was going to sleep.

"What?" he growled.

"Come on, B, time to get up," said Cyborg's voice from the other side of his door.

The changeling felt quite confused and wondered what Cyborg was doing up this early. He looked over at his clock and saw that it was ten. He'd been asleep for four more hours! And he didn't feel any more rested. He sighed and whined into his pillow with distress.

"Let's go, get your green butt up!" said Cyborg, banging on his door again.

"Alright!" Beast Boy yelled. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"If I don't see you in the common room in five minutes I'm coming back," Cyborg warned and then walked away.

Poor Beast Boy lifted himself up from his warm mattress and felt his way down to the floor. He grabbed one of his suits on the floor and began the painstaking task of squeezing his body into the skintight material; even with his thin, sculpted body it was hard. Once he was suited up he dragged himself from his room and headed back to the common room, which he felt like he'd just left.

On the way he stopped at the bathroom and relieved himself of the entire bottle of juice and glass of soy milk that he'd drank hours before. He splashed some water on his face and ran some through his hair, pushing it back with his fingers. He looked at himself in the mirror and concluded that he looked very tired and it'd be a miracle if his friends didn't notice.

He continued his journey to the common room and, upon reaching the doors, took in a deep breath. He released it and stepped forward, allowing the doors to slide open for him. He looked around the large room and saw his four friends scattered about. Cyborg was putting away the now dry breakfast dishes, Starfire was making a list for their trip to the grocery store that day, Robin was polishing a few of his bird-a-rangs, and Raven was sitting on the couch reading.

"There you are!" Cyborg said with a smile. "I was about to go in there with a hose and spray you out of bed."

"That would've sucked," said Beast Boy, stretching his stiff body.

"Beast Boy, what would you like for us to purchase at the store of groceries?" asked Starfire.

"Uh… I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Soy milk, I guess. And tofu, of course. Um… maybe some root beer."

"How about juice?" Raven asked from the couch. "You seemed to enjoy mine."

"Sorry about that," he said. "I got really thirsty last night and it looked like the best thing to quench my thirst."

"I hope it did," said Raven. "That was a brand new bottle and you drank the whole thing."

"It was a real big thirst," he said with a small smile and scratched the back of his head absentmindedly.

Raven sighed and said, "Well, lucky for you, we're going grocery shopping today." And with that she got back to her reading.

Beast Boy walked over to the couch and plopped down. The television wasn't on and he wasn't about to turn it on, out of respect for Raven's reading. He found that when he did small gestures like this it always came back to him in good ways. If he kept the TV off while she read she would turn the lights off when he watched a movie and read elsewhere. If he saw that she was meditating he would keep quiet as to not disturb her and then she would offer to give him some money when he went to the arcade. He liked this far better than always butting heads with her on everything.

He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes as he relaxed. Her scent was heavy in the air around the couch and he subtly licked his upper lip to taste it a bit more. God, he loved her scent. It was sweet and yet there was a slight spice that made his nose twitch.

But it wasn't just her scent he liked. He'd found that over the years he'd developed a deep feeling of care for her. As he began to slowly mature he began to gain a new respect for her and how hard every day of her life was. He couldn't imagine having to be aware of every emotional fluctuation he felt at all times. So he began to admire her for her self control and that admiration turned to affection. Little things he'd overlooked when he was a few years younger now stood out to him greatly. Like how her oddly cut hair framed her face just right and brought out the violet in her eyes. Or how she wore her hood down until she was in the presence of others and would only take it down again when she was sure no one was paying attention to her. Or even how she held her books very close to her face when she read.

Yes, he'd noticed small things like that about her and found himself falling a bit more for her with every little realization he made. But he knew the feelings weren't mutual. In fact, Raven had been going out with a young man for a few months now. She hadn't even told them what his name was, for fear they'd do a background check on him and embarrass her. She even forbid Robin from sending any form of spy or monitoring system after her when she went out or she'd quit the team. She really was a very private person. All Beast Boy knew was that the nameless guy she liked was the luckiest man alive.

"I am done with our list of groceries," Starfire announced. "Who will accompany me to the store?"

"I'll go," said Robin.

"I'll come along, but I'm going to the bookstore," said Raven, closing her book.

"You need a new book already?" asked Beast Boy.

"No," said Raven.

"Then why are you going to the bookstore?" he queried.

"If you must know, I'm meeting my friend," said Raven, standing up.

"You mean your boyfriend?" Cyborg with a smirk.

Raven sighed and said, "Yes."

"Well, I'll go to the store with you guys, too," said Cyborg. "B, you coming?"

"Naw, that's okay," said Beast Boy. "I'm not really in a food shopping mood."

"You're not going back to bed, are you?" asked Cyborg.

"No, I'll just watch some TV," he said, grabbing the remote.

"You sure?" asked Robin.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said.

His four friends got ready and were soon gone from the tower. As soon as he was sure they were gone he turned the television off and got comfortable on the couch to take a nap. He knew they'd be gone for hours and he just wanted a catnap. He hoped when he woke up he'd finally feel rested. Those stupid nightmares always seemed to throw off his entire day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 2

The long grass served as perfect camouflage as he carefully crawled along the ground. He moved slowly and silently, knowing any small sound would alert his prey to his presence. A bit of dead grass crunched ever so slightly under his paw and that's when the smell came immediately. Fear. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest and he no longer cared if his next victim heard him; they were his!

He leaned back on his back legs and gripped the dirt beneath his claws. He felt his mouth salivating and he smirked, allowing the saliva to drip from his fangs and roll off of his bottom lip. He then sprung forward, claws extended, and roared as he flew through the air and landed on…

* * *

Beast Boy felt his body fly up and he landed on a body, pinning them to the ground. He felt claws extend and break through his gloves and pierce the skin of someone's shoulders. He bared his fangs and growled as the hairs on his neck stood on end. Her sweet yet spicy scent filled his nose as well as her fear. His bright green eyes stared deep into two violet ones that were wide with shock.

"B-Beast Boy?" her voice said softly.

He slowly came to his senses and let his lips cover his fangs. He relaxed his fingers and his claws retracted then disappeared. He sat back on his heels and looked around. Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin were staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. He looked down and saw that it was Raven he'd attacked.

He quickly backed away and scrambled to his feet. His heart was racing and he felt fevered again. He felt their eyes on him and he felt absolutely mortified. He watched as Raven sat up, blood staining through her blue cloak on her shoulders. What had he done?

He then did the only thing he could think to do; bolt! He made a mad dash out of the common room and ran all the way to his room. He quickly locked his door and then backed away from it. He stood in the middle of his room, his mind racing. His body was trembling and he felt tears in the corners of his eyes. His nose picked up the scent of blood and he looked down at his hands. His exposed fingertips were stained with Raven's blood.

"Oh, God, what'd I do?" he said as he looked at his stained fingers with horror. He grabbed a discarded shirt and rubbed the blood off, though he could still smell it. He was in for it now. He'd attacked a teammate, even if it hadn't been intentional. Now questions were going to be asked. Tests were going to be done. His secrets would be exposed.

He heard a knock on his door and jumped. He cowered and quickly backed himself all the way to his window. His nerves caused him to shake and his heart raced relentlessly.

"Beast Boy?" Robin's voice said. "Are you alright?"

"I… I'm fine," he lied, praying he'd be left alone.

"Can we come in?" Cyborg asked. "We just wanna talk. It's just Robin and me."

"No, please, I'm okay," he said, his voice trembling.

"I don't think you are," Robin said, calmly.

"Yeah, Raven tried to wake you up and you attacked her, man," said Cyborg.

"I know you probably didn't mean to, but I think we should talk about it anyways, just us guys," said Robin.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," said Cyborg. He and Robin had gone after Beast Boy right after he ran out of the room. "She can heal herself, remember? She's just a little spooked; we all are. So, come on, unlock the door and let's talk."

By now Beast Boy realized that he'd calmed down slightly. He took in a few deep breaths and then forced himself to move forward. He dragged his feet to the door and unlocked it, slowly sliding it aside. He looked out and saw Robin's calm, masked face as well as Cyborg who had a kind, yet worried, expression. He backed up and pushed the door open more, allowing the two men to enter.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing he said once his friends were in his room. "I didn't mean to, honest."

"I know," said Robin. "You and Raven have been getting along really well lately, so I know you'd never intend to pounce on her like that. So what's going on?"

Beast Boy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't really know," he confessed.

"Well, let's start with why you attacked Raven," said Cyborg. "Do you have any idea why that happened?"

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, hanging his head. "See, every once in a while I have dreams where I'm on the hunt and sometimes I get as far as biting my prey, but then I wake up."

"And you had one of those dreams while you were napping just now?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy confessed. "And I had one last night, too. That's why I got up and went to the common room in the first place, not just to get a snack."

"How often do you have these dreams?" asked Cyborg.

"Like two or three times a month," said Beast Boy. "And they're nightmares."

"Since you're a vegetarian I imagine they must be," said Robin. "Do you have any idea why you keep having these dreams?"

"No," said Beast Boy. "I never really gave it much thought, to be honest. They've never done any harm until now."

"Could it be your primal side longing to be released again?" asked Cyborg.

"I hope not," said Beast Boy. "But I really don't know what's going on with me."

"It may be psychological," said Robin, more to Cyborg than to the changeling.

"Could be," said Cyborg who then turned to Beast Boy. "Maybe you should talk to someone, B."

"Like who?" asked Beast Boy. "A shrink?"

"Or maybe because you suppress your primal instincts so much they're building up and so you're having a small breakdown in your subconscious," said Robin. "Maybe you should actually act on your instincts for a little while. That may help."

"Robin, you have no idea what kind of instincts we're talking about, here," said Beast Boy. "I mean, I have the desire and needs of every animal! Sometimes I wanna mark my territory, sometimes I wanna growl and roar when I'm threatened, and don't even get me started about how hard it is when I go into heat! How can I just stop suppressing all of that after I've spent so much time controlling them?"

"It was just a suggestion," said Robin quickly.

"I think you should start thinking about doing something about this before you accidentally start sleep walking or something," said Cyborg.

"I never thought of that," said Beast Boy, a sudden fear taking over him. "Hey, are you guys gonna tell the girls about this?"

"I'm sure Raven's going to want an explanation," said Robin. "And if she knows that'll mean everyone but Starfire will know, so she might as well be informed as well."

"It's just… it's kinda embarrassing, you know?" said Beast Boy.

"There's nothing for you to be embarrassed about, B," said Cyborg. "I have issues with my robotic parts, Robin has a hard time expressing how he feels, Raven has to deal with her demonic heritage, and Starfire feels insecure because she's an alien living on a foreign planet."

"We're more than a team, Beast Boy, we're a family," said Robin, putting his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "If something's troubling you you should feel comfortable telling us, no matter what."

"I just don't want you guys to put me through any tests," Beast Boy confessed. "Like when that primal side of me was released."

"We'll try to avoid doing any tests like that until they're absolutely necessary," said Cyborg. "But if we do have to perform any tests I promise we'll handle it better this time. But you have to remember that when we tested you last time we thought you'd tried to kill Raven."

"I know," said Beast Boy. "But I told you guys that I hadn't and you still didn't believe me. You should know that I'd never do that to her or to any of you."

"That was our fault," said Robin. "We jumped to conclusions and didn't listen to you. But, like Cyborg said, we'll handle things better this time. Now I think you should go apologize to Raven."

Beast Boy sighed and said, "Okay. And I'll tell her why I attacked her in the first place. You guys can tell Starfire. I can't stand seeing that worried look in her eyes. She always looks like she's about to cry. In fact, why don't you guys just send Raven here?"

"Okay, good luck," said Cyborg and with that the two men exited the changeling's room and headed for the common room.

Beast Boy took a seat on his bottom bunk and ran his gloved fingers through his hair as he sighed. This all felt truly embarrassing and he hated it. At times like these he hated his powers and felt as if they'd ruined his life. But then he'd remember all of the good he could do with them and retract his statement of hate. A minute or two later he heard Raven's oh so familiar soft knock upon his door.

"Come in," he said, standing up.

His door slid aside and she appeared. She looked as stoic as ever, but there was a very gentle touch of worry behind her wisdom filled eyes. "You wanted to see me?" she said as she stepped all the way through and closed his door behind her. Immediately her scent filled the room and he instantly felt calmer, if not slightly giddy. How many times would he ever have Raven in his bedroom?

"Yeah, I, uh, just wanted to say sorry," he said as he scratched the back of his neck, unable to look her in the eyes. "I didn't mean to attack you."

"I know," she said evenly. "Your emotions from sleep carried over into your consciousness."

"Well, I think you should know why I pounced on you like that," said Beast Boy. "See, sometimes I have these dreams where I'm, like, on the prowl. I actually dream about stalking and catching a helpless creature, intending to kill or even eat it. And, when you woke me up, I was kinda in the middle of one of those dreams. I swear, I would've pounced on anyone who woke me up. I didn't even realize it was you for a few seconds. Like I said, I'm sorry."

"You have dreams where you're hunting?" Raven asked. "In your human form or in animal form?"

"I'm in an animal form, but I'm not really sure which one," said Beast Boy. "It doesn't really matter, I guess. All I know is that I have claws and fangs."

"Beast Boy, do you like the taste of meat?" she asked out of nowhere.

"What? Of course not!" he said. "I'm a vegetarian!"

"Yes, but you eat meat flavored tofu and soy products, correct?" she asked. "So you must like the _taste_ of meat."

"Well… yeah, I guess I do like the taste," said Beast Boy. "But just the taste. The thought of an animal being killed makes me sick to my stomach."

"If I were in your position, I'd feel the same way," said Raven. "But, I do somewhat understand what you're going through."

"You do?" he asked. "How?"

"I'm part demon, Beast Boy," she said. "I get demonic urges just like you get primal urges. When I'm really ticked off I fantasize about pulling whomever it is that's upset me apart. Seeing a disaster makes my heart race excitedly for a few seconds until I realize that it's nothing to be happy about. And I always have this desire to let myself go completely and just do whatever my heart wants, no matter what the consequences are. So, you see, we do share a similar state of being."

"Do you ever have dreams like I do?" he asked.

"Sometimes," she said. "Sometimes I imagine I'm terrorizing people and having a great time doing it."

"Does anything help you to stop having those dreams?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Usually the next day I involve myself in a game of stankball and take my bloodthirsty side out on you and Cyborg." She said this with a slight smirk.

Beast Boy gave a small smile and said, "So, what do you think I should do?"

"Well, you have two choices," said Raven. "You can set up something where you can actually hunt and attack without anything getting hurt, giving into your primal side to relieve it, or you can attempt taking your control of your primal side to a whole new level."

"And how would I do that?" he asked.

"You could try meditating," said Raven. "I know that once I started I felt much calmer and it even helped me with my night terrors."

"Huh," said Beast Boy in thought. "That may be what I need to do."

"Well, think about it," said Raven. "And, don't worry about what happened."

"Oh, okay," he said. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said then exited his room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 3

Beast Boy felt much better now that his secret was out. It wasn't the fact that everyone knew now, it was how they'd handled it. They'd showed concern, but all in all they made sure not to stop everything they were doing to concentrate on his problem. Even now, as he sat on the couch playing videogames with Cyborg, he felt like things were normal.

The common room doors opened and Raven walked in. "I'm going out," she said simply.

"Where're you going?" Beast Boy asked.

"None of your business," she said evenly.

"Ooh, I know," said Cyborg, getting an evil look in his one good eye. "You're gonna go see your boyfriend, right?"

"Goodbye," she said, rolling her eyes and leaving the room.

Cyborg chuckled to himself then said, "I still can't get over it. Raven with a boyfriend."

"Yeah, I can't believe it either," said Beast Boy, allowing a slight sadness coat his words.

"You okay?" Cyborg asked, looking at him oddly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Beast Boy said with a big smile, trying to cover up his slip.

"Oh, I know what it is," said Cyborg.

"Y-You do?" said Beast Boy, his heart racing.

"You're upset you still don't have a girlfriend, right?" his best friend asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's it," said Beast Boy, glad that this was his theory. "Sucks to always be single, you know?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll find Miss Right someday, B," said Cyborg. "Don't forget, we're all still young."

"Yeah, I know," said Beast Boy.

After he finished playing videogames with Cyborg he decided to do an experiment, in hopes it would satisfy his primal craving to hunt. He went down to the gym and hung a tofu-dog in front of the treadmill. He turned the machine on and then transformed into a lion. He started off at a creeping pace, all the while keeping his eyes fixated on the prize that hung before him. He then suddenly sprinted and began running as fast as he could after it. After a minute of this he finally jumped forward, off of the treadmill, and grabbed the tofu-dog with his massive fangs. He growled and shook his head around, destroying the poor soy based product. He ate the bigger pieces and then transformed back to his human form.

"Well… that was weird," he said to himself as he wiped his mouth. "I don't know if it worked but it was kinda fun. I guess I'll have to wait until the next time I fall asleep."

He heard the gym door open and he turned to see Robin walking in. The team's leader was a bit surprised to see Beast Boy in there but was even more confused about the tofu-dog remains that were splattered about.

"Uh… do I want to know?" Robin asked.

"I was trying to do something to stop my primal side from taking over my sleep," said Beast Boy. "I honestly didn't know it was gonna be this messy. I'll clean it up, I swear."

"Do you think it worked?" Robin asked.

"I don't know," said the changeling. "I really hope it did, but I don't feel all that different."

Robin took this in and said, "Well, when you're done cleaning up that mess, do you want to spar with me?"

"Sure," said Beast Boy with a smile. He quickly cleaned up the remains of the tofu-dog and got ready to spar with Robin.

The two did a few final stretches and then began to walk in a circle, sizing each other up. Whenever the two sparred together it was always a rather theatrical event. The two had rather big egos and liked to show off, even when no one else was around. But it didn't matter; there was always a cheering crowd in their own minds.

Suddenly one made a move and the match began. Punches flew, kicks were thrown, bodies went up, down, flat, over, under, and across. Thirty minutes into it Beast Boy felt his body being pinned to the ground and his arm was grabbed and held behind his back. He used all of his strength and flipped onto his back, causing Robin to be pinned beneath him. He rolled backwards and got free of Robin's hold. Robin quickly sprung up to his feet and once he was up was nearly smacked in the face with Beast Boy's foot. He caught it just in time and delivered a kick of his own. Beast Boy ducked out of the way and pulled his foot away from Robin.

By now both men were getting out of breath and sweat coated their brows. They continued to circle around, but then both straightened up and knew it was over; they were both spent.

"Nice job," said Robin, wiping the sweat away.

"Yeah, you, too," said Beast Boy.

"I think this is the first time we finished and you weren't pinned to the ground screaming for mercy," said Robin.

"Hey, I've _never_ screamed for mercy," said Beast Boy.

"Well, you screamed for something," laughed Robin.

"Now way!" said Beast Boy. "I've always let you win, cuz we all know that if you didn't win a sparring match you'd get all depressed."

"You _let_ me win?" Robin chuckled.

"Duh! You think you're really so good that you win against us each time?" Beast Boy laughed.

"Then, please, tell me why you finally chose this time to not lose?" asked Robin.

"Eh, I needed the ego boost," said Beast Boy coolly.

The two headed upstairs and went their separate ways; but each was going to take a shower. Once cleaned up Beast Boy headed to his room to relax for a while. He turned some music on and lay down on his bed. After the intense workout he'd had it felt nice to relax. But, as he lay there, his mind began to wander and before he knew it he found himself wondering what Raven was doing with her boyfriend. He wondered what he looked like. He knew Raven wasn't one to judge on appearance, but he couldn't see her with anyone unattractive. He was probably smart and quiet, like her, who liked to read and chat about intelligent things. Jerk.

He wished he could show Raven that he was smart; well, smarter than he appeared or people claimed him to be. But she wasn't one to listen to anything he said. Not when he had a horrible track record of spewing corny jokes as a way of getting attention. And if he sat down and actually spoke to her like a normal person he was quite sure she'd believe him to be ill and order him to undergo some tests.

And then an idea struck his brain. Raven had said that he could try meditating as a way for him to take better control of his primal side that was itching to get out. Now, he didn't really know anything about meditating, but she did. He could ask her to teach him how and, in the process, attempt getting closer to her in that. He could kill two birds with one stone; manage his instincts and break the ice with the ice queen. He didn't care that she was going out with some guy that she didn't even want to introduce them to. He just had to show her that he could be as intelligent as any other guy out there.

There came a knock on the door and he responded. "Yeah?"

Cyborg threw the door open and said, "B, you gotta come to the common room!"

"Why? What's going on?" he asked, sitting up.

"Raven brought her boyfriend home!" said Cyborg as giddy as a schoolgirl. Something this juicy only came once in a blue moon. "She wanted us to be normal when we met him so she decided to bring him here when we weren't expecting it. Now come on! You gotta see him."

Beast Boy quickly jumped down from his top bunk and quickly headed to the common room with Cyborg. When they arrived they found Starfire giving the young man a bone crushing hug and squealing with joy.

"Oh, it is so nice to meet you at last!" she cried.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you in person," he said through his crushed lungs. She let him go and he caught his breath. He was rather tall with dark hair and piercing green eyes. He was dressed normally and looked very intelligent.

Beast Boy felt a fire burn in his stomach and he immediately wanted to throttle the guy for daring to show up in his tower. He quickly realized this was the result of his overactive instincts and willed them away the best he could.

"Beast Boy," said Raven, seeing that he'd finally showed up. "This is Nathan."

"It's nice to meet you," Nathan said with a smile and held his hand out to Beast Boy.

Beast Boy inwardly growled, but grabbed the guys hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you too, dude," he said and shook his hand.

"So, you're the one who pounced on Raven, huh?" Nathan laughed, though there was the hint of a threat behind his eyes.

Beast Boy's eyes went wide and he felt a mix of embarrassment and anger. He looked at Raven and made sure she felt his emotions. "Uh, yeah, but it was a total accident," he said quickly.

"Don't worry, I know," said Nathan, smiling a beautiful smile with perfect white teeth. Beast Boy just wanted to knock them out of his head.

"So, Nathan, what do you do?" asked Robin. And thus, the interrogating began.

"Well I'm in college at the moment," said Nathan. "But I also work at the bookstore."

"What're you studying?" asked Cyborg.

"Criminal justice, if you can believe that," said Nathan with a laugh. "I don't think you guys realize how exciting it is to meet you all. I've followed your career since the beginning. I can't wait to serve along side you all someday."

"Do you plan on becoming a policeman?" Starfire asked.

"Hopefully," said Nathan. "I know it's going to be hard, but it's always been my dream."

"So do you live at home?" asked Robin.

"Yes, but I'm moving out within the year," said Nathan.

"And just what're your intentions with our Raven?" asked Cyborg in a very fatherly tone.

"Alright, we're done here," said Raven quickly and she grabbed Nathan's hand. "Let's go."

"Uh, it was nice to meet you all," said Nathan as Raven dragged him out of the common room. As soon as he was gone the four remaining Titans began to discuss the young man.

"He seems very nice," said Starfire.

"I dunno," said Cyborg. "I didn't feel much of a connection between them. Usually I can feel chemistry between people and I didn't feel anything."

"Yeah, me neither," said Beast Boy, who wouldn't be able to tell the difference but if Cyborg was saying something about Raven and Nathan not being meant to be together he was going to agree.

"Well Raven must feel something for him," said Robin. "And I'm glad to hear he wants to be a policeman."

"For all we know he just said that to get on your good side," said Beast Boy. "Raven might've told him to say that so we wouldn't pick on him for being a bum or something."

"B, do you really think Raven would go out with a bum?" Cyborg laughed.

"I think Raven would go out with anyone who actually paid positive attention to her," Beast Boy said under his breath and left the common room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 4

His paws pushed him along the ground at a fast pace, leaves and branches whipping him as he passed. He felt his muscles burn and lungs beg for air as he picked up the pace in pursuit.

The scent grew stronger and he felt the hairs on his back tingle with anticipation and delight. His eyes narrowed as his prey came into view at last. They were out of breath, sweating, and their heart was beating a mile a minute. He couldn't ask for a better victim. He could hear their gasps and squeals of horror as he got closer and closer. At last he leapt and pinned his victim to the ground.

He dug his claws into their skin, feeling it pierce and hearing the screams of pain that came with it. He smelt blood in the air and his stomach growled impatiently. He smirked to himself and showed off his deadly fangs. He howled proudly as his prey lay helpless beneath him. Then he opened his jaw and went right for the throat…

* * *

Beast Boy's eyes flew open and he found his jaw wrapped around something soft and plush. He released it and saw that it had been his pillow. His fangs had torn right through the material and he was lucky he hadn't choked on the stuffing. He sighed and sat up.

"That stupid dream again," he said to himself as he rubbed his tired eyes. "I guess the experiment with the tofu-dog didn't work. I'll have to go to Raven and ask her to teach me some meditation."

He made his way down from his bunk and headed to common room to get something to drink. He was glad he hadn't made it to the point in the nightmare where he bit his prey and tasted their blood, but he swore he could taste it. His steps were soft and he moved silently down the hallways. He hadn't looked at his clock, so he wasn't quite sure what time it was, but he figured it had to be after midnight.

He arrived at the common room and as the doors opened he was surprised to see that the lights were still on. He looked straight on and saw that Raven was sitting on the couch with the phone in her hand. She was instantly alerted of his presence by his emotional fluctuation and turned around. And there she saw him, standing in the doorway in only his boxers.

Beast Boy felt his heart stop and his cheeks felt on fire. But, to his relief, Raven coolly turned back around. He decided to quickly get a drink and then get the hell out of there.

"I told you, maybe Wednesday," Raven said into the phone. "I don't know… Well we'll move it to Thursday then… Nathan, I really have to go to bed… I have an early morning training… Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow… Goodnight." She turned the phone off and he could hear her let out a soft sigh. "I'm guessing you had a nightmare again."

Beast Boy, who was now holding a tall glass of soy milk, turned towards her. "Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"Who else would I be talking to?" she asked, standing up.

"Well, you were on the phone," he said, though he'd known the moment she'd gotten off.

"So, did you?" she asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I think I'm gonna have to learn how to meditate. You wouldn't mind teaching me, would you?"

"Of course not," she said. "But you have to be serious about it."

"I'm totally serious about it," he said quickly. "I'll do anything to stop these stupid nightmares."

"Alright, we'll start tomorrow, then," she said. "Try to get some sleep."

"Okay," he said with a smile. "Hey, do we really have early morning training?"

Raven was quiet for a moment then said, "No."

"Oh," said Beast Boy. "I could've sword I heard you tell Nathan that we did."

"Eavesdropping on my conversation, were you?" she asked with the slightest of frowns.

"I didn't mean to!" he said quickly. "I couldn't help it. I've got these big ears and they're like satellites."

"Well don't do it again," she said. "And I told Nathan that because if I hadn't he wouldn't have let me go."

"Likes to talk a lot, does he?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes," said Raven. "But I don't mind."

"Hey! You say that I talk all the time and you hate it!" he said. "How come it's different for him?"

"Because he talks about intelligent things rather than the secret plans of zombies," said Raven with a slight roll of her eyes.

"Oh," said Beast Boy, his ears lowering.

"Goodnight, Beast Boy," she said and proceeded to exit the common room.

"Goodnight," he said softly and watched her leave.

Raven passed through the doors and as they closed behind her she let out a small sigh. She could feel the torment Beast Boy was going through and she found it pretty hard to believe that it was all from his nightmares. Something was troubling him, but she wasn't sure what. She'd felt these feelings from him, among others, for quite some time now and she hadn't been able to figure out what was going on with him. She wanted to help him, she felt compelled to because his emotions were always so pure and intense, but she was never sure he'd accept her help. He might say he would, but then would treat it as if it were all a game. She could never be quite sure with him. But she hoped the meditation lessons would help her connect with him better so she could figure out what was going on beneath that green head of his.

The next day, around noon, Beast Boy went off in search of Raven so they could start meditation lessons. He hadn't really gotten all that much sleep, but he felt that he'd be alright. He'd just go to bed early that night. He checked the common room but didn't find her there, so he went to her room. He knocked on her door, but didn't receive a response. He thought for a moment then decided to check the roof. Sure enough, there she was in deep meditation.

He felt his heart jump at the sight of her in her tranquil state. He hoped he could achieve such a state, though he was sure he'd never look as radiant as she did. He took in a deep breath then slowly released it in order to calm himself. He didn't want to approach Raven while his emotions were so intense. Once he was pretty sure he was emotionally decent he approached her.

"Hey, Raven?" he said in an almost soft tone, as to not surprise her.

"Yes?" she asked in an even tone.

"I was wondering when we were gonna start the meditation lessons," he said.

"If you're ready, we'll start now," she said.

"Sounds good to me," he said.

"Alright, take a seat on the ground in the lotus position," she said.

"What's the lotus position again?" he asked.

"Just cross your legs like me," she sighed.

"Oh," he said, feeling stupid. He hated feeling so intellectually inferior to anyone, but especially to her. He sat down and crossed his legs in the same position Raven's were in. "Okay, now what?"

"First off, no more talking," she said. "I'll be the only talking from here on out. Now close your eyes and relax." Beast Boy nodded, closed his eyes, and did his best to relax. For many minutes Raven remained quiet and Beast Boy wanted to ask her what to do next, but decided not to. Eventually he felt his body loosen up and actually relax. Only then did Raven continue on. "Now to keep your mind focused you should think of a mantra to repeat. As you know, I always say 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos'. If you want, you can say that for today. Once you feel completely focused begin digging deep into your psyche. Find the primal part that wants to be released and concentrate on keeping it subdued. You're in charge, not your primal side. Now let's get to that focused place. Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos… Azarath…"

"… Metrion… Zinthos…" Beast Boy said with her. As he chanted and focused he felt as if he were leaving his body. It was a dizzying feeling and, since he was already tired from a sleepless night, he almost felt as if he were going to pass out… which he did. He slipped out of consciousness and folded over from his sitting position.

Raven opened one eye and looked down to see her meditation student had passed out. She sighed but didn't find it shocking; she'd sensed that he was tired and it was always hard to concentrate, and stay conscious, when going into a deep meditative state. But, this was a good thing. If he was able to pass out so quickly that meant he was able to gain deep access into his psyche easily.

The changeling found him self somewhere dark and unfamiliar. He had his senses on high alert, but it didn't seem to matter. He couldn't really sense anything. He heard the shuffle of thick padded paws nearby and he twisted towards it.

"Hello?" he called out.

But he received no response. He heard whatever it was move around again and he followed it with his ears. Then he saw two gleaming eyes shining through the darkness. A chill was sent through him and the hairs on his neck stood on end.

"W-What are you?" he asked, taking a defensive stance.

"Don't you remember me?" it said in a deep voice that was more of a growl. "You've been pushing me back for so long I know you do." It stepped out of the darkness and revealed itself; it was his primal manifestation.

"You're… You're me!" said Beast Boy, backing away in shock. "You're the one giving me nightmares!"

"I'm not giving you anything you're not giving yourself," it growled. "I am you, you are me. We're the same being, remember?"

"Yeah, well, I'm sick of you trying to take control," said Beast Boy, finding his courage and authority at last. "So back off! I'm in charge here and I'm not gonna revert to primal urges just because of you."

The creature's eyes narrowed he it smiled to itself. "I'm only doing what you want. You know these animalistic thoughts of yours excite you. You want to embrace them as badly as I do."

"I don't want anything to do with your stupid animal thoughts!" said Beast Boy. "I'm a human being, not an animal!"

"Are you sure?" it asked. "Are you _really_ sure?" And with that it backed away was enveloped by the darkness once more.

"Hey! Get back here!" Beast Boy yelled. "I'm not done with you yet!"

His eyes snapped open and he saw the bright sky above him. His heart was racing and he felt sick. He rolled onto his stomach and crawled over to the edge of the roof. He hung his head over the edge and began to get sick. Of course he hadn't realized that Raven was still there and was watching him.

"Oh God, what happened to me?" he moaned as he heaved again.

"You went a little deeper into your mind than you should have your first time," said Raven.

He swung around and saw her standing nearby. Now he felt really embarrassed. He would've rather she saw him in his boxers again rather than seeing him throwing up off of the roof.

"How long was I out?" he asked, turning back.

"About an hour," said Raven. "And don't worry; it's okay to feel nauseas."

"Oh good," said Beast Boy and he heaved again.

"I'll go make you some tea," she said. "It'll help."

Beast Boy heard her walk away and then let loose one last time. Feeling that he'd emptied all the contents of his stomach, he hung over the edge, trying to recover. He was glad he'd thrown up over the back of the tower, so no one saw. He would've been absolutely mortified if it had been in the front where the large widows were.

Once he felt a little better he got to his feet and slowly headed for the door that led back into the tower. He held his head, which still felt dizzy, and hoped he'd made some progress with suppressing his primal instincts. If he hadn't he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He really didn't want to hunt down a poor animal just to satisfy his urges.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 5

He couldn't believe it. It'd been a whole week and he hadn't had a single bad dream; not one! He didn't even dream normal dreams. He just slept through the night and woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.

"You never told me that meditating made you feel so good in the morning," he said to Raven as they got ready to meditate again.

"I didn't know it'd affect you like that," said Raven. "It doesn't make me feel any better."

"Really?" he said, surprised. "Well, then how do you feel when you wake up in the morning?"

"Not good," she said simply and plainly. "Now stop talking so we can meditate."

"Okay," he said, knowing to leave her alone. When Raven wanted to meditate you didn't do anything to get in her way. He closed his eyes and focused on reaching his center.

When they finished they headed to the common room to see what their friends were up to. Cyborg and Robin were playing videogames while Starfire was getting ready to take Silkie out for a walk.

"Raven, you have finished meditating at last!" said Starfire. "Nathan has called three times."

Raven sighed and said, "Thanks." She grabbed the phone and dialed the appropriate number.

"Hey, B, you wanna play winner?" asked Cyborg.

"Uh, no, that's okay," said Beast Boy as he watched Raven exit the common room with the phone.

"How'd your meditating go?" asked Robin.

"Good," said Beast Boy. "I really didn't think it'd help me, but it totally has."

"You should thank Raven," said Cyborg. "You know how much she values her meditation and she's sharing her time with you."

"I know," said Beast Boy, still staring at the doorway.

"Something on your mind?" asked Robin, who didn't miss a thing.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, no," he said realizing he hadn't taken his sight off of the doors since Raven left. "Just sort of, you know, relaxed from meditating." As soon as he turned towards the television screen he heard the doors open. He turned and Raven reentered.

"I'm going out," she said.

"Where're you going?" asked Robin.

"Downtown," she said simply.

"I shall accompany you," said Starfire. "I am going to the park."

"Why don't you go with them, B?" asked Cyborg.

"Why would I go?" he asked.

"Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to go to the comic store to get the new issue of something?" said Cyborg.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," said Beast Boy.

"Well I'm going right now," said Raven, letting him know she wasn't going to wait around for him.

"Okay, um, let me just go grab some money," he said and quickly ran to his room.

Once he had his money the three headed out into the city. Raven obviously wasn't happy about having company with her, but she was too nice to tell them that they couldn't join her. It was also clear that she was going to see Nathan. Beast Boy wasn't so happy about that.

They arrived in the city, after flying of course, and Starfire headed off towards the park with Silkie in her arms. This left Raven and Beast Boy alone together, something that made Beast Boy very uncomfortable.

"So, uh, where're you meeting him?" he asked coolly.

"How'd you know I was meeting Nathan?" she asked evenly.

"I didn't," he said with a small smile. "You just told me."

Raven rolled her eyes but had to admit that that was a good trick. "If you must know, I'm meeting him at a café," she said as they walked.

"Cool, that's right next to the comic book store," said Beast Boy.

"Why's that 'cool'?" asked Raven.

"Oh, uh, cuz… that means we can walk there together," he said, trying to think quickly. "Kinda sucks walking around in the city all alone, you know?"

"I don't really mind," she said plainly.

"Oh," said Beast Boy, feeling a bit crushed inside.

Raven felt the sudden shift in his emotions. She sighed and said, "But, then again, I do enjoy company every now and then."

Beast Boy's mood lightened slightly and he felt very warm inside. "So, uh, how's everything going with you and Nathan?" he asked.

"Fine," she said, simply.

"You know, I'm really glad you found someone, Raven," he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "It's nice to see you happy with someone."

"Thanks, Beast Boy," she said. "I wasn't sure you guys would accept him at first, but I'm glad you have."

"Well, we just want you to be happy," said Beast Boy with a smile. "Plus it's nice to have another couple to make fun of other than Rob and Star."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that," said Raven, her voice smiling even if her lips didn't.

"You know me well," he chuckled lightly.

"As you do me," she said.

"That's true," he said. "But, after living together for so long, I think if we didn't know each other really well there'd be a problem."

It grew quiet between them as they continued to walk. Both felt very comfortable and it was a rather pleasant feeling. Beast Boy dreaded the moment they'd have to part so she could go meet her boyfriend while he went into the comic book store like the loser he was.

"Hey!" came a voice behind them. The two spun around and saw Nathan walking towards them. Beast Boy was less than thrilled.

"Hey," said Raven. "Where're you coming from?"

"Bookstore," said Nathan, holding up a bag that had a book within it. "I wasn't expecting to see you, Beast Boy."

The changeling could swear he could see something flash in Nathan's eyes. "Yeah, well, I needed to go to the comic book store and Raven was going this way so I thought I'd join her," he said, coolly.

"Oh," said Nathan, quickly looking Beast Boy up and down as if sizing him up. "Well, it's cool to see you again."

"Hey, do you mind waiting here for a second," said Raven as they paused in front of a store. "They have my tea here and I wanted to get some."

"You just bought some," said Nathan.

"Well, now that Beast Boy's drinking it as well, I run out twice as fast," said Raven and with that she entered the store.

It grew quiet between both young men for a moment. Then Nathan cleared his throat and casually crossed his arms. Beast Boy knew that something bad was coming.

"So, you've been hanging out with my girlfriend, huh?" he said in a pleasant voice that was obviously fake.

"It's kinda hard not to hang out with a friend, teammate, and roommate, dude," said Beast Boy in a far more genuine pleasant voice.

"Raven's told me that you two are meditating together now," said Nathan.

"Yeah, it was her idea," he said, making sure that point was clear.

"I'm sure it was," said Nathan in a light chuckle and he moved a little closer to the changeling. "Look, I'm sure you're a nice guy and all, so I want something to be clear between us. Don't overstep your boundaries with her, okay?"

"What're you talking about?" asked Beast Boy, instantly getting ready to go on the defense.

"Look, from what I know, you've pounced on her, started meditating with her, drinking her tea, and now you're walking in the city together," said Nathan. "I'm sure that, since you're, you know, an animal, you feel entitled to Raven since you've been friends for so long. And I know that you see me as a threat, but let's get something straight, she and _I_ aretogether. You mean nothing to her so try to act like a human and leave her alone."

"I am a human!" Beast Boy said, outraged. "And who are you to judge me or what I do with my friends? And that's all we are; me and Raven are friends, nothing more."

"You better be," said Nathan, taking another threatening step towards him. "Because if I find out you're doing anything to try and take her away from me I'll make you pay."

"And if you lay one finger on me you'll find yourself in jail," said Beast Boy, glaring at him.

Nathan smirked and said, "I don't think I mentioned that my father's the chief of police. So you can't touch me."

Beast Boy frowned, but took a step back and rolled his eyes. "Whatever dude," he said. "If you're really this possessive then Raven's gonna kick your ass to the curb any day now. If there's one thing she hates, it's someone trying to control her."

"Just stay away from her, you got that?" said Nathan. "You do anything out of line and you'll answer to me."

"Same goes for you," said Beast Boy. "You do anything to her and I'll end you, dude."

"Is that right?" said Nathan, pushing Beast Boy hard in the chest, sending him a step backwards.

"What's going on?"

The two men turned and saw Raven exiting the store with a bag full of tea.

"Nothing," said Nathan with a smile. "So, you all set? I'm really craving one of those scones from the café."

"Yes, I'm all set," said Raven. She looked at Beast Boy who gave her a very strange look. He looked angry and defensive, but restrained. Something had obviously happened. She'd have to ask the changeling later.

"Great, let's go," said Nathan, taking her hand and beginning to walk. The two headed off down the street, but Beast Boy didn't follow. This caught Raven's attention since they were all heading to the same area.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked.

"Actually, I don't think I have enough money," said Beast Boy, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you back at the tower." And with that he turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.

Raven watched him walk away and really wondered what had taken place. Nothing could ever stop Beast Boy from buying the newest issue of his favorite comic book. She sighed and put it at the back of her mind. She was supposed to be enjoying herself with her boyfriend.

Beast Boy went back to the tower and headed straight for the gym. Once there he took out all of his anger on the poor punching bag. He punched, kicked, and wailed on it until his limbs ached and he was shaking from the adrenaline rush. Once finished, he took a seat on the floor and tried to catch his breath.

"What an asshole," he growled. "There's no way I can let him stay with Raven. When she gets back I'm gonna tell her everything." He sighed to himself. "No, I can't do that. Not when she's actually happy and in a relationship. But I can't let her be with this jerk. But if I tell her what he said to me then she'll think I was making it up just to ruin her relationship. But she's gotta know I'm not that mean, right? Urgh, why does this all have to be so freaking complicated?"

"Uh, you okay, Beast Boy?" The changeling turned and saw Robin.

"Oh, hey Robin," said Beast Boy, getting to his feet. "Just, uh, doing a quick work out."

"Didn't you go with Raven and Starfire?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did, but I decided to come back," said Beast Boy. "Raven's out with Nathan."

"Yeah, me and Cyborg guessed that," said Robin. "You're looking a little upset."

"Don't worry about it," Beast Boy sighed. "I'm going to my room."

"Okay, see you later, then," said Robin as he watched his teammate leave. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew that Beast Boy didn't take his anger out on the punching bag for no reason. He decided to talk to him later when he'd calmed down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 6

Beast Boy lay on his top bunk listening to some very loud, and some could consider, obnoxious music. He was still in a rather foul mood, but was trying to get his mind off of Nathan and Raven with the music. He just couldn't understand how Raven could be with such a jerk. She was usually a pretty good judge of character, so how could she miss this? And, like Cyborg had said, the two had no chemistry together. Why would she waste her time with him?

There came a knock on the door that he was lucky to hear over the loud music. He climbed down off of his bed and turned the music down. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Raven."

He felt his heart jump and quickly shook all bad feelings off of him. He didn't want her to know how he was feeling right now. "Coming," he said and went to the door. He took in and let out a deep breath, put a pleasant smile on his face, and slide the door aside. "Hey, what's up?"

"I just got back," she said. "I want to talk to you about what you and Nathan were doing while I was in the teashop."

"Oh, nothing, just being guys," he lied.

"I know what it looks like when you're fooling around," she said. "And that's not what was going on between you and Nathan. So what happened?"

"It's nothing," he said. "He just kinda thought that I was spending a little too much time with you, that's all. I mean, the guy _is_ your boyfriend so finding out you're hanging out with another dude would make anyone jealous."

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Yup, that's pretty much it," he smiled.

Raven looked at him as if her deep soulful eyes were searching his mind for answers and then said, "Alright, that's all I wanted to know. But, just incase you two aren't on good terms with each other, please don't fight with him."

"Why? You think he could whoop me?" asked Beast Boy with a slight laugh, though he had a funny feeling that that was why.

"No, I don't want you to 'whoop' him," she said plainly.

Beast Boy seemed quite taken aback and said, "You seriously think I could beat him in a fight?"

"He's just a normal civilian, Beast Boy," she said. "Yes, he's in very good physical shape, but he hasn't been specially trained like us. Not to mention he doesn't have superpowers. So please don't fight with him, okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Beast Boy. "But, like I said, nothing's going on."

"I hope not," Raven sighed. "Anyway, I put the tea in the cupboard and there's plenty so have as much as you want."

"Thanks Raven," he grinned.

She nodded and then went on her way down the hall. He watched her walk away for a few moments, then closed his door. He let out a long sigh and leaned against his cold, steel door. He hated having to lie to her, even if it was a white lie. But he didn't want to cause waves. At least, not yet. He decided that he'd wait for Raven to see how much of an asshole Nathan was and if it took her too long he'd show her before she got hurt.

Raven walked down the hallway with many things on her mind. She knew that even though Beast Boy had told her something truthful about what had happened between him and Nathan he was still withholding information. But, she trusted the changeling and knew that whatever he wasn't telling her couldn't have been of much importance. But still, she didn't like him not telling her everything that had happened between him and her boyfriend.

Boyfriend. Raven was quite sure she'd never have one of those. And now that she did, she didn't really see what the big deal was. She didn't feel anything different for him than she did for any of her other friends. But they got along well, were intellectually compatible, and he'd said she was pretty a couple times, so she guessed that was where the difference between him and her other friends lied. But, still, she didn't really feel anything significant for him. So this really confused her about Robin and Starfire. She always felt such intense emotions coming off of them when they were together. She couldn't understand how that was possible. But, then again, she supposed that they were an oddity. Other couples couldn't possibly feel such powerful emotions.

Which brought her to another thought. She felt emotions radiating off of Beast Boy, now and then, that were on the same line as the ones that she felt from Starfire and Robin. She wondered where these emotions were coming from and whom they were for. She thought that as they grew up Beast Boy would become a little less complicated, when, in fact, he'd became more complex. But, then again, he had grown up a bit and that made it far easier to reside with him. So everything balanced out in the end.

Beast Boy lay on his bed, taking an afternoon nap. After talking with Raven he felt drained and wanted nothing more than to sleep a few hours of the day away. He would soon realize what a mistake this would turn out to be.

* * *

The long grass served as perfect camouflage as he carefully crawled along the ground. He moved slowly and silently, knowing any small sound would alert his prey to his presence. A bit of dead grass crunched ever so slightly under his paw and that's when the smell came immediately. Fear. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest and he no longer cared if his next victim heard him; they were his!

He leaned back on his back legs and gripped the dirt beneath his claws. He felt his mouth salivating and he smirked, allowing the saliva to drip from his fangs and roll off of his bottom lip. He then sprung forward, claws extended, and roared as he flew through the air and landed on… Nathan…

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Beast Boy found himself in mid air as he awoke and in instinctively grabbed onto the edge of his bed as quickly as he could. He felt quite startled, confused, and even a tad bit frightened. He breathed quickly and his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

"Beast Boy? Are you in there?" came Robin's voice from the other side of his door.

"Uh, y-yeah," Beast Boy said as he regained his bearings and carefully climbed down. Once his feet were on the floor he felt a little safer and quickly shook out his body of the remaining shock. He ran his fingers through his hair and opened the door. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you were okay," said Robin. "You were pretty upset when you left the gym."

"Oh, that?" he said, coolly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Beast Boy, come on," said Robin. "I know when you're upset. So what's going on?"

Beast Boy sighed and said, "Really, it's nothing."

"So there is something," said Robin. "Did something happen when you went into the city?"

"Yeah, but nothing all that important," said Beast Boy.

"It must have been for you to nearly destroy the punching bag," Robin pointed out.

"Dude, nothing happened!" said Beast Boy, growing aggravated and more stubborn by the second. "I'd tell you if it was something important, but it's not."

"But, the point is, something did happen," said Robin. "I just want to know."

"Why?" Beast Boy snapped. "Why do you need to know everything? It has nothing to do with you so just back off, okay!"

Robin kept cool and showed no sign of intimidation. "Beast Boy, we both know that you wouldn't get this worked up over nothing. And I'm not asking you as the team leader, I'm asking you as your friend, okay?"

"Then, as my friend, know when to stay out of my business," said Beast Boy, crossing his arms.

Robin sighed and said, "Alright, if this is how you want to be, I won't push it any further. But I'm going to ask Raven if she knows anything about it."

"She doesn't!" Beast Boy lied. Damn Robin and his thirst for knowing everyone's business.

"Fine, then I'll go ask her right now," said Robin and with that he turned and walked away.

Beast Boy was quite steamed and slid his door shut quickly. He grumbled to himself and climbed back up to his top bunk. Once there he relaxed and let the anger fade away, leaving him feeling even worse than before. But not because of Robin. Because the victim in his dream finally had a face, and it was Nathan.

"This can't be good," he said to himself. He sat up and decided to meditate for a while to see what was going on in his subconscious. He'd never really done this alone, but he didn't want to get Raven involved. So, he did as he always did, and began. "Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…" He knew that Raven had told him to get his own mantra, but he was so used to hearing Raven's, and now saying it, he decided he might as well use hers since it was working for him. He delved into the depths of his mind and soon became lost in a trance.

He found himself in a darkness he was becoming very familiar with. And out of the darkness came those glowing eyes he knew all too well. He no longer feared this creature, nor did he let it intimidate him. He knew that in order to control it he had to neither fear nor underestimate it.

"Why did I dream about attacking Nathan?" he demanded.

"Why do you think?" he chuckled.

"My dream victims have never had a face before," said Beast Boy. "And I'm not about to let Nathan plague my dreams. I've already gotta put up with him in the real world. So cut it out."

"If you want it to stop then do the right thing," it said and leapt at him, landing three feet in front of him. It quickly began to pace around him and as it did it said, "Let me out! Free yourself for once."

"That's not gonna happen," Beast Boy said, firmly.

"He's taken your woman," said the beastlike creature. "And he challenged you. That alone should be enough for you to let me be free!"

"He also said that I'm an animal and if I let you take over me then I'd be proving him right," said Beast Boy. "I'm not an animal and I'm not gonna resort to my primal instincts. So take Nathan's face out of my dreams, got it?"

"Fine, I'll make a deal with you," it said, sitting down on its haunches right in front of him. "I'll take his face out of your dreams but, in return, you must release me for one hour."

"No!" said Beast Boy, sick of having these conversations about freeing his primal side.

"If you let me free I promise I won't kill, attack, or even interact with anyone," it said. "I just want to run around, feel the dirt beneath my paws, the raw air through my fur. Set me loose in the forest for an hour, that's all I ask."

"How can I trust you?" asked Beast Boy.

"I _am_ you!" the creature laughed. "Can't you trust yourself?"

"At this point, no, I can't say I can," said Beast Boy.

"Alright, how about you ask one of your friends to go with you?" the creature suggested. "That way if I do anything I'm not supposed to they can tell me to cut it out."

"You don't listen to anyone!" said Beast Boy.

"I do listen to one person," it said, its blank eyes smiling. "If she told me to stop then I'd obey immediately."

"No, I can't ask Raven to do that," said Beast Boy. "She's been helping me to suppress you. If I just go off and let you out for a while she'll be offended. I'm not gonna let her think helping me was for nothing."

"Well, until you let me out, you're going to dream about attacking Nathan every time you close your eyes," it said. And with that it bounded off into the darkness and was gone.

Beast Boy brought himself out of his trance and opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that the sun had set. He looked at the clock and saw that he'd been out for a few hours. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

"What am I gonna do?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 7

Raven stretched as she walked down the hall and let out a small yawn. Normally she didn't get up this early, but Nathan had planned a nice day out for them that started in an hour. So she decided to get up early so she didn't look tired when she met up with him. She knew Robin would be up so she prepared herself to see him as the common room doors opened. She stepped on through but was met with an odd sight. Robin was there but he was staring quizzically at the green changeling that was slumped over the table, passed out, with a cup of now cold coffee in his hands.

"Uh… what's going on?" she asked, softly.

"I don't know," Robin shrugged. "I haven't seen him in this bad of shape in weeks."

"I guess he's having those dreams again," she sighed.

"I thought the meditation was working," said Robin.

"So did I," said Raven. "I'll have to have a talk with him. But, what should we do for now? I'm sure as hell not waking him up again."

"I guess we'll just leave him-" Robin started but was cut off when Beast Boy jumped awake with a scream and threw his full cup of cold coffee into the air. The liquid drenched both Robin and Raven while Beast Boy's hairs stood on end. Robin sighed and said, "Never mind."

"What're you guys doing here?" Beast Boy asked, looking at them rather confused.

"It's eight in the morning and you're in the common room," said Raven, ringing out her hair that now smelled of coffee. "You fell asleep at the table."

"Oh," said Beast Boy, rubbing his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the changeling sighed.

"You certainly aren't," said Raven. "I'm going to take a quick shower and we're going to have a talk."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Beast Boy said quickly. Whenever Raven said that they needed to have a talk he usually had done something wrong and needed to be scolded.

"I didn't say you did," Raven replied evenly. "Just be ready to talk in a few minutes." And with that she left to shower and change.

About twenty minutes later Beast Boy found himself leaning against the wall next to Raven's door. He was really dreading this talk. He knew what it was about, but that didn't mean he was ready for it. It had been a week and a half since his dreams of attacking Nathan had began and he hadn't gotten more than three hours sleep in that time. Just as his primal side had said, every time he dared to close his eyes a nightmare would begin.

He heard her door open and stood upright. She stuck her head out and then motioned for him to come inside. He sighed and entered the dark, mysterious, and often scary room. She had her large curtain pulled aside, so the room wasn't as dark as it often was, and this did make him feel a little more comfortable. And her sweet scent coated the walls.

"So, uh, what do you wanna talk about?" he asked, dumbly.

"Why isn't the meditation helping you anymore?" she asked plainly.

"It is," he said, quickly.

"Then why were you passed out on the kitchen table this morning?" she asked, crossing her arms. "I doubt it's the newest rage."

"I had one bad night, okay?" he said. "That's all."

"You've been a bit slower than usual lately," she said. "Don't think I haven't noticed. I just didn't know it was this serious. So what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," he said, growing irritated. "God, I'm sick of everyone sticking their nose into my business!"

"Don't play angry with me," she warned. "I can see right through your emotions, so don't even try. Now tell me why you're having nightmares again."

"I'm not!" he said, stubbornly.

"Beast Boy, neither of us is going anywhere until you tell me," she said taking a seat on her bed.

"Yeah, right, don't you have a date with Nathan?" he said, looking away from her and crossing his arms. "You're not gonna cancel your date for me."

"You don't think I would?" she said.

"Nope," he said.

"Beast Boy, I'm not going to go on a date when you're in trouble," she said. "When I taught you how to meditate I was making a commitment to help you. And, seeing as you're in such a terrible state, I'm not going to leave you. So tell me what's going on, already."

Beast Boy turned back to her and said, "You're really gonna stay here with me?"

"Of course," she said, standing up. "Your well being is far more important to me than Nathan being miffed that I have to cancel our outing."

Beast Boy bit his upper life, trying not to smile. Hearing her say that made him feel very good inside. He then sighed and said, "Fine, I'll tell you. I _have_ been having the nightmares again. And I have them constantly."

"Why?" Raven asked.

"Because my primal side wants to be let out for a little while and unless I do what it wants it's forcing me to go through the worst nightmares I've had yet," he confessed. "But I know I can't let it out cuz we've been working so hard on suppressing it and if I let it out then it'd be like me throwing all of that time meditating down the toilet. Not to mention I don't know what I'd do once in my primal form. It's really hard to control."

"Have you told your primal side that you're in charge and you're not going to let it win?" she asked.

"That's basically all I do, but it's not working," Beast Boy said, running his fingers through his hair. "And I'm _so_ tired. I haven't slept in eleven days. I just don't know what to do at this point."

"Well you should've come to me and told me all of this when it started," she said in a scolding tone. "It's obvious you need more help controlling your primal side than I initially thought."

"So, what do we do about it?" he asked.

"I think I might have to enter your mind and help you gain control," she said.

"N-No!" he said quickly. "Uh, thanks, but I don't really want you roaming around my mind."

"It doesn't hurt," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "I went into Robin's mind, remember? I think it'll really help you."

"Yeah, I'm still gonna say no," said Beast Boy.

"I'm not going to go into any of your personal thoughts," said Raven. "Just to your primal side."

"I know, and I still don't want you going in there," he said firmly. He knew that if the manifestation of his primal instincts saw Raven he'd tell her all about wanting to protect her and how he really felt. Well, this changeling wasn't about to let that happen.

Raven sighed and began rubbing her temples. "Okay, we'll do something else then," she said. "Though, I'm not sure what. You're certainly not ready to attempt a twenty-four hour trance, so we'll count that out."

"Twenty-four hour trance?" asked Beast Boy. "Why can't I do that?"

"Because if you meditate for more than three hours you still pass out," said Raven. "And something as intense as a twenty-four hour session might kill you."

"That's a little dramatic," said Beast Boy.

"But true, nonetheless," said Raven. "It took me two years to prepare for a twenty-four hour trance and even then I passed out afterwards and was out cold for two days. So you're absolutely not attempting that." She sat back down on her bed and began to think. "Other than meditating more, I really don't know what to tell you."

"Isn't there some sorta spell you could do to me?" he asked, desperately. "You know about magic and all that, there must be something."

"We're not cheating," said Raven. "You're going to gain control of your primal side without the help of magic or anything the like."

"But don't you have something that'll let me sleep without having any dreams?" he asked. "I just need one good night's sleep and then I'll get back to work on gaining control. I'm running on empty, here."

Raven sighed and looked over at her shelves of various potions. She tapped her foot in thought then finally said, "Fine, I'll help you get some sleep. But that's all."

"Oh, thank you so much!" he cried out and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes and pulling him off of her. She went over to the shelves and looked around. She grabbed five different bottles and a bowl. "Now, this is going to take a while to create, so you might want to go watch some TV or something."

"How long will it take?" he asked.

"Roughly two hours," she said, looking inside one of the bottles. "Do you think you can keep busy for that long?"

"I'll try," he said and headed for the door. "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome," she said as she carefully began to pour some powder into the bowl.

Beast Boy smiled and exited the room, softly sliding the door shut behind him. The thought of having a few hours of uninterrupted sleep made him feel very good. But, he was also quite content with the fact that Raven had chosen to stay and help him rather than go see Nathan. And she didn't even seem all that upset about it. That had to count for something, right?

He made it to the common room and found Cyborg eating his usual large breakfast. Had he not been so sleep deprived he might've started a fight with him about the sausage and bacon he was eating, but he barely had the strength to walk as it was. He dragged himself over to the couch and plopped down to watch some television. In less than five minutes Cyborg had sat down next to him with an all too familiar playful look in his eye.

"You up for some gaming?" he asked.

"Sure," Beast Boy shrugged. "But, let me warn you, I'm not gonna be much competition today, dude."

"Yeah, Robin told me you're not sleeping all that well again," said Cyborg. "But, I'll just consider this a practice and you can consider it a way to stay awake." He tossed the changeling a controller and set up the system.

"Sounds good to me," said Beast Boy. "But we only have two hours."

"Why?" asked Cyborg.

"Cuz Raven's cooking me up a sleeping potion as we speak," said Beast Boy.

"I thought she was going out with Nathan today," said Cyborg, sitting down next to him.

"She was, but it turns out I'm more important to her than Nathan is," he said, a content smile gracing his lips. This did not go unnoticed by Cyborg.

"And you look pretty happy about that," said Cyborg, raising an eyebrow. "Is that cuz you don't like Nathan or cuz you like Raven?"

"I despise Nathan," Beast Boy said with an attempted growl, but it was cut off when he let out a long yawn. "The guy's an asshole."

"And Raven?" Cyborg asked.

"She deserves someone way better," said Beast Boy. "Now let's go before I pass out and have another bad dream."

The two began to play, but that didn't mean Cyborg was going to forget the odd smile Beast Boy had had. He wondered if it was possible that his best friend had a crush on someone everyone considered to be his polar opposite. Cyborg decided he'd ask the changeling when he was in a better state of mind.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 8

Beast Boy couldn't believe it. He'd slept a straight seventeen hours! He wasn't sure what Raven put in that potion but, boy, did it work. He hadn't had a single dream the entire time. He simply woke up feeling refreshed and ready to function again. When he entered the common room everyone was quite surprised, and relieved, to see him up.

"Oh, Beast Boy, I was certain you were in a permanent sleep like the sleeping beauty!" Starfire cried and wrapped her arms around her dear friend.

"You were out cold, man," said Cyborg. "Hell, I dumped a glass of water on your head and you slept right through it!"

"Ah, so that's why my bed was wet," said Beast Boy. "I thought I'd just drooled more than usual."

"I told them you were fine, but they refused to believe me," said Raven.

"How do you feel?" asked Robin.

"Awesome," Beast Boy said with a large smile. "I haven't felt this good in a while. So, did I miss anything?"

"We fought Dr. Light," said Robin. "Other than that, no."

"Cool," said Beast Boy. "Oh, Cy, tell me something. Did I really beat you four times when we played videogames or did I just imagine that?"

"Yeah, you beat me, but it doesn't count!" said Cyborg. "I mean, you were basically half asleep the whole time!"

"Yeah and I creamed you!" laughed Beast Boy. "From now on I'm just gonna play you when I'm really tired."

"It makes no sense!" Cyborg ranted. "Wide awake and on a sugar high you can't even get half as many points as me but when you're about to pass out you get the all time high score?"

Suddenly the room began to flash a red and a siren sounded. Of course, there was only one meaning behind this; trouble. Now they were really glad Beast Boy had finally woken up.

"So, who is it this time?" the changeling asked as he stretched.

Robin brought up the computer on the large screen and began to access the needed information. "It's Cinderblock," the team's leader said. "It looks like he's broken out of prison again. What a nuisance."

"Well, at least we'll be able to take him down fairly quickly," said Cyborg.

"Shall we go perform the kicking of the butt?" asked Starfire with a confident smile.

"Sounds good to me," said Beast Boy with a large grin.

"Alright, team, let's head out," said Robin and with that the five made their way out of their beloved tower.

One thing about Cinderblock, it was never hard to find him. The girls and Beast Boy flew while Cyborg and Robin took the T-car to the scene. The large cement creature was tearing about the city, destroying buildings and anything else it could get its hands on. The Titans certainly had their work cut out for them.

"What's the plan?" asked Beast Boy.

"Starfire, get his attention by shooting starbolts at him," said Robin. "Raven, restrain his arms. Beast Boy, trip him but make sure you get him to fall towards the street and not any buildings. Cyborg, can you find something to tie him up with?"

"Already on it," said Cyborg, running off.

"Okay, team, go!" Robin ordered and with that the attack began. He threw five freeze disks at its feet, which would immobilize it for a few precious seconds. "Starfire, go!"

"Right," said Starfire as she flew up to the large creature and began shooting starbolts at its head. It didn't harm it in anyway, but it certainly got its attention. It turned towards Starfire and let out an annoyed yell and began to swat at her. Starfire easily avoided the large cement hands and continued to shoot at it.

"Raven!" said Robin, letting her know that it was her turn.

"On it," she said. She concentrated and said, "Azarath Metrion Zin-" But that was as far as she got when Cinderblock's hand, which was going after Starfire, smashed right into her head. She was knocked out instantly and dropped from her place in the sky.

"Oh no!" Starfire cried.

"I got her!" Beast Boy called out and got underneath her falling form. She dropped right into his arms and he held tight, to make sure she didn't slip through and fall to the pavement. As soon as he had her he took off for a safe area to put her down in.

Cyborg returned with about a quarter of a mile of chains and saw that Cinderblock wasn't down yet. He also saw Beast Boy running towards him with Raven in his arms.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Cinderblock knocked her out," said Beast Boy, laying her down. "He was going after Starfire and he got Raven by mistake."

"So Robin and Starfire are fighting him alone?" said Cyborg, instantly taking off towards the chaos. "Come on, B, let's go!"

"But what about Raven?" he asked.

"She's got healing powers, remember?" said Cyborg. "She'll be fine. Now let's kick Cinderblock's ass!"

Beast Boy didn't want to leave his injured teammate, but knew Cyborg was right. He sighed and quickly took off after Cyborg. The two arrived at quite a scene. Robin was doing his best to immobilize the creature anyway he could and Starfire was just flying around and around shooting it with her starbolts. Cyborg threw Beast Boy one end of the chain and the two quickly advanced upon the villain. Together they wrapped around it, Beast Boy turned into a pterodactyl to get the upper half, and finally had it restrained. It yelled out in anger and attempted to move, but only tripped and fell onto its face.

"This is getting monotonous, Cinderblock," said Robin. "Stay in jail! Can you get that through your thick skull?"

"Is Raven alright?" asked Starfire in a very worried tone.

"I dunno," said Beast Boy. "Let's go check."

The group, save Robin who stayed with Cinderblock, ran over to where Beast Boy had laid the injured Titan down. As luck would have it, she was just sitting up after coming back to consciousness. She held her throbbing head and looked around, a bit confused.

"You okay?" asked Cyborg.

"I think so," she said, rubbing the bump she'd acquired from Cinderblock. "What happened?"

"Cinderblock was attempting to hit me but he accidentally hit you," said Starfire. "I am sorry you were injured."

"It wasn't your fault, Starfire," Raven said as she slowly got to her feet.

"You are very lucky Beast Boy caught you or you might have been injured more severely," said Starfire.

Raven turned to the changeling and said, "You caught me?"

"Yeah," he said with a small smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was in the right place at the right time, I guess."

"Well, thank you," said Raven.

"Hey, no problem," he said coolly, though he was jumping up and down on the inside.

"Come on, let's get you home," said Cyborg, placing his hand on Raven's back and ushering her towards the T-car that was parked nearby. "I think there's a bottle of aspirin that has your name on it."

"You've got that right," Raven groaned as her brain ached.

Once Cinderblock was safely in the hands of the police the team headed back to the tower. Once home Raven quickly took some aspirin and went to lie down while she healed the bump and cuts on her head. Beast Boy decided that it was time he started working on subduing his primal side, since he knew Raven wouldn't give him another sleeping potion any time soon. He let everyone know that he wasn't to be disturbed for the next few hours and then went to his room to meditate.

He cleared a clean spot in the middle of his floor and sat down in the lotus position Raven had taught him weeks before. He let out a long breath and relaxed, allowing himself to find his center. Once calm he began to chant Raven's mantra and put himself into a meditating trance.

"Well done."

He looked around and found that his primal manifestation was right behind him and was smiling to the best of its abilities.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"You saved her," it said. "Well done."

"Oh," said Beast Boy. "Thanks. You should also thank her for giving you a rest from putting Nathan into all of my nightmares."

"Why would I thank her for that?" it laughed. "I enjoy torturing you with Nathan because I know eventually you'll let me out because of it."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," said Beast Boy. "Now, you listen to me, I'm in charge here and I'm not gonna let you torture me with these nightmares anymore."

"You can't control me," the creature smirked. "You have no way of making me do anything. All we can do is arrange a compromise. You'll get what you want when I get what I want."

"I already said we're not doing it like that," Beast Boy said firmly. "I'm going to get what I want and you're going to shut up!"

"You have no power over me," it said. "I have the power here."

"Don't you remember?" said Beast Boy. "You said we're the same person, so if you have the power then so do I. Look, if we don't settle this soon Raven's gonna come in here. Do you want that? For her to see you? She'll never want to be near me again and if she's not near me then she's not near you."

"You're the one who's making this far more complicated than it needs to be," said the creature. "You're trying to be something you're not, you fool. You know that deep down you want to indulge in me because it feels oh so good when you do. If you let me out every once in a while then I'd keep quiet and you could live as normal a life as you can possibly lead. By trying to suppress and silent me you're only creating a problem that shouldn't exist!"

"You shouldn't exist!" Beast Boy said, angrily. "I shouldn't have something like you inside of me! God, I didn't ask for this, you know? I mean, being green and having animal morphing powers is one thing, but then you came along and just messed everything up!"

"You're the one who got careless and stumbled into that toxic slime," said the creature. "Had it not been for that I would've remained fast asleep for who knows how long. But, what you've got to realize is, I would've woken up sooner or later."

"No, you wouldn't, cuz I wouldn't have let you," said Beast Boy. "I never had such intense urges until you came along."

"That has nothing to do with me," said the creature. "It's called puberty. It awoke urges and desires within you that come from your regular animal instincts. So don't use me as a scapegoat for that."

"All I know is that once you're gone I'll be able to be as normal as I was before," said Beast Boy. "Back then at least I knew I was still human. But now… well, let's say you're making me question a few things."

"You're only questioning yourself, remember," it pointed out. "Once you realize we're one in the same you'll do the right thing and stop trying to control me."

"This is getting me nowhere," Beast Boy said in a very tired, and aggravated, tone. "Why won't you listen to me? Why won't you obey me?"

"Because _you_ won't listen to _me_!" said the creature. "You're arguing with yourself, you fool!"

"I've had enough of this," said Beast Boy and with that he brought himself out of the trance and opened his eyes. He looked at the clock and saw that three hours had passed. He sighed and decided to go see what his friends were up to.

As he entered the common room he was met with an interesting sight. The news was on and what was the clip of the day? Someone had recorded the fight with Cinderblock and, more importantly, the moment Raven got hit and he'd caught her as she fell out of the air. As pleased as he was to have some air time, he knew that Nathan was probably squirming in his chair wherever he was.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 9

It was day two of having no sleep and Beast Boy with in a rather foul mood. He still hadn't made any progress with his primal side and time was running out. He knew that if he didn't get this under control soon he'd have to ask for Raven's help again and she'd insist upon going inside his mind. He really didn't want that to happen, but it looked like he'd either have to do that or let his primal side out. He just had to decide which was the lesser of two evils.

He sat at the table eating a tofu sandwich and found no satisfaction in it. He cursed his primal side for doing this to him. He heard the doors slide open with a hiss and listened intently with his ears. He heard heavy footsteps and knew that it was Cyborg. If he was going to cook meat Beast Boy was going to flip out. But he finally had some good luck. Cyborg passed the kitchen and headed straight for the couch, noting the presence of the changeling at the table.

"Hey man," he said with a smile. "How're you doing?"

"Not too good," Beast Boy grumbled and took another bite of his sandwich.

"How long have you been awake?" Cyborg asked as he searched for the remote.

"Forty-nine hours," said Beast Boy. "And counting."

"You need to get some help, B," Cyborg sighed. "This isn't healthy."

"You think I don't know that?" Beast Boy snapped at him.

"Raven really can't do anything to help?" Cyborg asked.

"The only thing she can do is go into my mind, but that's not gonna happen," said Beast Boy.

"Why?" asked Cyborg.

"Cuz I don't want her in there," said Beast Boy.

"B, if you're scared just go talk to Robin," said Cyborg. "She went into his mind and everything went fine. In fact, they're a bit closer now because of it. Don't you wanna have a bond like that with her?"

"Of course I'd like that," said Beast Boy. "But I know she wouldn't want one with me if she saw the things I've got inside my mind. I don't care what happens, she's not going anywhere near my brain."

Cyborg sighed and gave up on looking for the remote. "Well, I think I'm gonna go out for a while," he stated. "You wanna come with me? The fresh air may do you good."

"I doubt it, but I might as well," said Beast Boy, finishing his sandwich. "I haven't left the tower in a while and if I'm gonna be awake for the rest of my life I'm gonna get sick of this place pretty quickly."

It was a rather nice day out and many people were out in the city. Of course, Beast Boy and Cyborg stuck out like sore thumbs among the thousands of people, but they were used to it at this point. Cyborg got himself a pretzel as they walked and Beast Boy dragged his feet, his head heavy and looking down at the sidewalk.

"So, since I've got you out here all alone, you wanna tell me something?" said Cyborg.

"What?" asked Beast Boy.

"Now don't freak when I say this, cuz there's a good possibility I'm way off here," Cyborg began. "But is there something going on between you and Raven?"

"How can there be something between me and Raven when she's got a boyfriend?" Beast Boy asked.

"What I mean is, do you have a thing for her?" asked Cyborg.

"No," said Beast Boy, looking at him like he was crazy. He'd prepared himself pretty well, knowing this day would come sooner or later. "Why would I?"

"I dunno," Cyborg shrugged. "It's just that the other day when Raven made you that sleeping potion you were really happy that she'd rather help you than go be with her boyfriend. And you said you hate Nathan. So I can only assume that's because you like her."

"Well, I do hate Nathan," said Beast Boy, his hands subconsciously clenching into fists. "But that's just cuz he's a jerk and Raven deserves better. I mean, if Star was going out with an ass I'd want someone better for her, too."

"So you don't like Raven?" asked Cyborg, just to be clear.

"Not more than a friend," said Beast Boy. He was quite proud of himself. He never thought he could act this well.

"Well, I'm glad that's cleared up," said Cyborg.

The two continued to walk down the street until they passed a car accessories shop, and it happened to be Cyborg's favorite. He stared wide eyed through the windows like he was a child looking into a candy store. He spent his savings on car parts like Beast Boy spent his on comics.

"Mind if I run in here for a minute?" asked Cyborg.

"Go ahead," said Beast Boy, leaning up against the building. Cyborg practically squealed with delight and ran inside. Beast Boy crossed his arms and decided to people watch while he waited. He was so tired it really was a challenge to keep his eyes open. Not even the hustle and bustle of the city could keep him awake and alert at this point. And he knew it was only going to get worse.

"Hey."

Beast Boy lifted his tired head towards where the voice came from. To his displeasure, there stood a less than happy Nathan. Beast Boy inwardly sighed and stood up straight, putting on a fake smile.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I wanna talk to you," said Nathan, grabbing Beast Boy by the arm and pulling him into the alley between the car shop and a music store. He roughly let go of the changeling and turned him around to face him. "I thought I made it pretty clear about leaving my girlfriend alone."

"I haven't done anything wrong," said Beast Boy with a frown.

"On no?" said Nathan, growing even angrier. "So what did I see two nights ago on the news?"

"I don't know, you tell me," said Beast Boy, not in the mood for this.

"I saw Raven falling out of the sky and you caught her!" said Nathan.

"So now you're against me saving her if she's in trouble?" asked Beast Boy. "If I hadn't caught her she would've fallen onto the street! Jeez, you've got some serious issues, dude."

"She could've been caught by Starfire or Robin," said Nathan. "But, no, you had to do it. And before that she cancelled our date for you! I told you not to over step your boundaries, but I guess that wasn't clear enough." He shoved Beast Boy hard in the chest, pushing him backwards.

"Hey, don't touch me!" said Beast Boy, backing off. He remembered that Raven had told him not to fight Nathan and, damn it, he wasn't going to. "I already told you, me and Raven are just friends."

"Well get some other friends!" said Nathan. "Whenever I'm with her all she talks about is you!"

Beast Boy was quite surprised by this. "She does?" he asked.

"She's always going on about how she's worried about you and how she wants to help you," said Nathan. "Well I'm sick of our dates always turning into me listening to her talk about you."

"Maybe I'm just more interesting than you are," said Beast Boy with a cocky grin. Knowing that he was often on Raven's mind suddenly made him feel very proud. "Or maybe she's the one who wants to be more than friends with me!"

"If that were true then why's she with me?" Nathan responded. "Face it, Beast Boy, she wants to be with me."

"Or maybe you're just convenient," said Beast Boy. "And if she wants to be with you so much then how come she never is? She's always with me!"

Well, that was the last straw. Nathan snapped and in one swift movement landed a clean punch to Beast Boy's face. The changeling staggered back and held his left cheek in pain. But he had not time to recover. Nathan moved in again and punched him in the stomach, then the face again, twice. He got Beast Boy up against the brick wall of the building and beat him relentlessly. Beast Boy felt his nose crack and crunch again and again. He chocked and gagged on the blood that dripped down the back of his throat from his nose and his mouth. Nathan landed a descent punch to his jaw and with a sharp pain felt his upper left fang tear across his mouth and then rip right out. But he refused to fight back; Raven had told him not to.

Said empath and Starfire walked down the street with a few bags. The alien princess had talked her into going clothes shopping. Of course, this was only a ploy to ask Raven if they could do a double date.

"But it will be most enjoyable," Starfire pleaded as they walked.

"I highly doubt it," said Raven.

"We wish to know Nathan better," said Starfire. "And what better way than for us to do the double of dates?"

"Starfire, we're not doing a double date and that's final," said Raven, quite sick of talking about this. Starfire had started this damn conversation an hour and a half ago.

"But we bought matching outfits!" said Starfire, holding up the shopping bags. "I wanted us to wear them together."

"We didn't get any matching outfits," said Raven, looking at her friend oddly.

"Oh, that's right, I did not tell you," said Starfire, smiling. "I bought everything you bought! That way we shall match! We will look most adorable."

"Joy," said Raven, sarcastically.

The two girls were just passing by the car accessory store when Cyborg came out, with four large bags in his hands. "Hey!" he said with a smile, catching their attention.

"Hello, Cyborg!" said Starfire with delight. "We did not know you were going to go shopping. You should have joined us when we left earlier."

"It was kind of a spur of the moment type thing," said Cyborg. "I thought Beast Boy could use some fresh air."

"Beast Boy?" said Raven.

"Yeah, he's…" Cyborg looked around but couldn't find his green friend. "Where'd he go?"

The three looked around curiously but stopped when they heard odd sounds coming from the alley. They peered around the building into the alley and were shocked by the sight they saw. Nathan was beating the utter life out of Beast Boy!

"Whoa!" said Cyborg, immediately running down the alley to break it up.

"Nathan, what're you doing?" asked a rather shocked Raven.

Cyborg grabbed Nathan by the shoulders and flung him away from the changeling and into the adjacent brick wall. He then pinned him there, making sure he wasn't going anywhere. Finally free of Nathan's beating, Beast Boy collapsed onto the ground in pain.

"What's your problem, man?" Cyborg demanded.

"This is none of your business!" said Nathan, trying to pull out Cyborg's grasp.

"Oh, Beast Boy!" Starfire cried upon seeing the state of her dear friend. She and Raven went to him to see what the damage was. There was blood splattered all over his face and it was already swollen.

"What happened?" Raven asked, horrified at the state of her teammate. Beast Boy was in no state to reply, so Raven turned to Nathan. "What happened?" Her eyes blazed with fury.

"I was teaching him a lesson," said Nathan, as if that justified his behavior. "The animal had it coming!"

Cyborg pushed him a bit harder into the wall and said, "You wanna run that by me again?"

"I don't care what he did, that gave you no right to lay a finger on him," said Raven, her voice dark.

"I don't know why you even care about that freak," said Nathan. "Do you know he didn't even put up a fight? You wait until I tell my father, that creature's gonna be thrown off of your supposedly great team so quick it'll-"

But that was as far as Raven would let him get. Her eyes turned black and tendrils of her dark energy flew out of her and wrapped around him. Cyborg knew he wasn't needed any longer and got out of there so he wasn't caught in Raven's wake. She brought him close to her and stared at him with her blank, dark eyes. Nathan actually grew frightened. Then she flung him out of the alley so that he landed on the sidewalk.

"Get out of here," she hissed. "We're through." Nathan quickly got to his feet and began to run for his life.

Raven's eyes returned to normal and she went back to see how Beast Boy was doing. Cyborg and Starfire had gotten him to his feet but he certainly couldn't go anywhere in the condition he was in. His left eye was swollen shut and she could've sworn his nose was slightly turned to the side.

"Let's get him back to the tower," she said and with that wrapped all four of them in her dark energy and transported them back home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 10

"What the hell happened?" asked a shocked Robin upon seeing Beast Boy being dragged to the med bay.

"Nathan attacked him!" said Starfire, clinging to her beloved's arm. "We do not know why, but he did!"

"Nathan?" said Robin.

"Yeah, the guy beat the pulp out of him," said Cyborg, helping Beast Boy get onto a bed.

"We need some cloths and warm water," said Raven. "I can't see the damage if it's covered in blood."

"I shall get them," said Starfire and she quickly flew off.

"B, man, how many fingers am I holding up?" Cyborg asked, holding up three fingers.

"North Dakota?" said Beast Boy and with that he fell back against the bed.

"He's got a concussion," said Raven. "And, from what I can see, at least a broken nose."

"If this is how bad Beast Boy looks, I can't imagine how bad Nathan faired," said Robin.

"He's absolutely fine," said Cyborg. "B didn't fight back."

"He didn't fight back?" said Robin. "He just took the beating? Why would he do that?"

"Who knows?" said Cyborg. "But, man, I don't think I could take a whoopin like that and not raise a finger."

"I have returned!" said Starfire with a large bowl of warm water and a few wash cloths.

"Alright, I'll clean and fix him up," said Raven, taking the bowl and cloths from Starfire. "You guys can go."

"You sure you can do this alone?" asked Robin.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Raven. "Besides, I have a few things to ask him once he comes to."

The three didn't want to, but they did leave Raven and Beast Boy alone so that she could clean and heal him. Once they were gone Raven gently began to clean all of the blood off of his face. His lip had been split twice, his nose was unrecognizable, his cheek was shattered, he had a black eye, a concussion, and the back of his head had been split open from being slammed into the brick wall repeatedly. And she wasn't sure what damage the rest of his body had sustained.

Once the blood was cleaned off, for the most part since he was still bleeding, she placed her hand over his head and let her healing light enter him. She stopped the bleeding and took care of the concussion. This allowed him to wake back up.

He groaned and opened his eyes. "Am I still alive?" he asked with a slight lisp.

"Do you think I'd let you die?" she replied.

He saw Raven and smiled to the best of his abilities. "So you guys really did come and save me," he said, relieved.

"You're lucky we got there when we did," said Raven. "Nathan might've killed you."

"Probably," said Beast Boy with a slight chuckle.

"I don't see what's funny about that," she said as she to heal his face bit by bit. "Why did he attack you, anyway?"

"He thought I was spending too much time with you," he said. "A while back he told me that if I didn't leave you alone he'd make me pay."

"Is that what really happened outside of the teashop?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess he sees me as a threat or something. Anyway, he saw that I saved you the other day and, evidently, not even that's allowed. So he came up to me outside of the car place, threw me into the alley and before I knew it he was beating the crud out of me."

"I can't believe it," said Raven.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You saw him beating me up."

"No, I mean I can't believe he threatened you and you never told me," said Raven. "Don't you think you should've warned me about what kind of guy he is?"

"I know I should've told you, but I didn't for a few reasons," said Beast Boy. "First off, I knew that if I told you you might think I was just trying to ruin your relationship. Second, I don't really know the guy so I wasn't sure if I was making a big deal out of nothing. And lastly, I know that you're smart enough to get yourself out of a bad relationship. So, I thought I'd leave it to you and see if you saw him as the asshole I did."

"Had I not discovered him beating you up today I never would've known he was like this," said Raven.

"Then thank God our paths crossed today," he said, attempting to smile once again. All Raven could see was the vacant spot where his fang used to be.

"I'm sorry about your tooth," she said. "Unfortunately my powers can't help you there."

"Eh, don't worry about it," he said. "A new one will grow in in a week or two."

"It will?" she said, unaware of this fact.

"Yeah," he said. "I accidentally knocked one out when I was younger and a new one grew in."

"Oh, well, I guess you're lucky then," said Raven. She finished healing his face and, other then some light bruising and a slight kink in his nose, he was as good as new. "Does anywhere else hurt?"

"I think I've got a bruised rib or two," said Beast Boy.

She placed her hands over his chest and began to heal one bruised and three broken ribs. "So why didn't you fight back?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Nathan practically made an attempt on your life and you didn't even raise a finger," said Raven. "Why?"

"Because… you told me not to," he said softly.

Raven stopped healing him and looked at him oddly. "I told you not to?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, looking down. "You told me not to fight him because he's just a normal civilian and not a superhero like us and you were scared I'd hurt him."

"So you let him beat you up just because I told you not to fight him?" she asked. "Why? You've never done anything I've asked of you up until now! Why on earth would you do this one particular request? You could've been killed!"

"I guess I'd rather be killed than do something that would hurt you," he said softly, looking up and making contact with her own eyes.

Raven felt something very odd pass through her as their eyes met; something that made her heart race and an odd sensation to well in her chest. Suddenly she felt as if she were looking at him for the first time; as if he wasn't the green changeling she'd known for the past few years. She realized how very different he was now and, for the first time, looked upon him as a man. And this realization made her feel sensations and think thoughts that she wasn't sure she could.

She realized that the air had been silent for an uncomfortable amount of time and snapped back into the present. "You're done," she said, feeling almost embarrassed for the secret feelings that had suddenly passed through her as their eyes lingered within each other. She went over to the sink and began to wash her hands, which had trace amounts of his blood.

"Thanks," he said with a soft smile and sat up fully, stretching his healed body. "I wonder if tasting all of that blood will keep my primal side quiet. Probably not, since it's my own."

Raven kept quiet as she washed her hands, still feeling confused about the moment they'd shared when their eyes had met. She continually took in deep, slow breaths and focused on her task at hand. After a few moments she felt everything within her settle down, and for this she was relieved.

"So, are you and Nathan really through?" he asked as he examined his face in a mirror.

"Do you really think I'd keep a relationship with someone who attacked one of my friends?" she asked plainly.

"I'd hope not," he chuckled. It grew quiet again, something Beast Boy detested. "So, um, I'm sorry I kinda ruined your first relationship with a guy."

"He ruined it," said Raven. "Besides, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I just expected it all to be a bit different than what it was, that's all," she said. "I guess being built up by all of Starfire and Robin's emotions set me up to be disappointed. I should've known the feelings they share aren't normal."

"They're relationship isn't normal, I'll give you that," he said. "But I'm pretty sure the way they feel about each other is right."

"I'm not so sure about that," said Raven. "Whenever they're together they're always exuding happiness, comfort, affection, and many other very positive emotions."

"And you didn't feel any of that with Nathan?" Beast Boy asked curiously.

"Certainly not to the extent Starfire and Robin do," she said. "I really didn't feel anything more for Nathan than I do for any of you."

"Then why'd you go out with him?" he asked.

"Because he and I became friends and I figured that that's how relationships were supposed to be," she said. "I'm no expert on the subject, you know."

"Obviously!" said Beast Boy. "Raven, you're supposed to go out with someone who makes you feel… different."

"And what do you mean by different?" she asked. She really hadn't a clue about dating and relationships, other than the solid facts, so she was very willing to learn about it. She always had a thirst for learning something new.

Beast Boy run his fingers through his hair and began to walk around the med bay aimlessly. "Well, what I mean is, when you see them they make you feel special," he said, awkwardly. "They make you feel almost like you're gonna faint when they so much as look at you. And when they're near you feel kinda sick and excited. Your heart races and your palms sweat and you pray to be recognized by them. And when you're together you feel like you're the only ones in the world and everything else just seems to fade away. Their gaze actually makes you ashamed of yourself and you feel as if you're not worthy enough of even their time. And you beg to whatever god there might be that somehow they can see past your flaws and feel even a fraction of the adoration you feel for them. When they're away from you you feel like you're dying and when they're near your heart aches, so no matter what you feel like you're living in turmoil. And it goes on and on and you feel like there's no relief. But then they do something as small as give you a slight smile and suddenly you feel like you could do anything! And a billion things inside of you explode and you just want to confess everything that's been hiding within your heart for so long, but you know you can't do that because it's not possible for them to feel anything close to what you're feeling!"

Raven stared silently at the green man who was now quite out of breath in front of her. Her heart was racing and it wasn't because his was and was influencing her own. The passion he put into each and every word he'd said had actually moved her in a way she certainly wasn't used to. She knew that each word he'd said had come straight from his heart. He wasn't telling her how everyone feels when they like someone; he was telling her how he himself feels.

Beast Boy leaned back against the bed that only minutes before he'd been resting in. Adrenalin rushed through his veins and he felt completely vulnerable. He hadn't meant to reveal everything inside of him, but once he started he just couldn't stop. He just couldn't keep it all bottled up inside of him any longer.

"Who is she?"

He looked up and his eyes met hers once again. "Huh?" he responded.

"Who is she?" Raven asked again. "The one who makes you feel like that."

Beast Boy let his eyes rest within hers for another moment, but then cast them down to the cold tiled floor of the med bay. "It's no one," he said, his tone soft and tragic.

"A person doesn't use words and feel passion like that over no one," said Raven.

Beast Boy bit his upper lip then started to head for the door. "I better go let everyone know I'm okay," he said and left.

Raven watched him leave and felt his emotions follow him out of the door. She wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, to either of them. She just sighed and went about cleaning the med bay.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 11

Beast Boy was quite glad; his primal side had left him alone last night and he'd gotten a full night's sleep. He wasn't sure why it hadn't woken him up with a nightmare, but he wasn't about to question it. He now cherished every minute of uninterrupted sleep he received.

Word soon spread around the tower about the reason behind Nathan's attack on Beast Boy. They also found out why the changeling hadn't fought back and had just taken the beating. Cyborg, who had been convinced that Beast Boy didn't harbor any romantic feelings for Raven, suddenly found him self pondering the thought once again. With all of this new information he couldn't help but draw the same conclusion as he had before; that the green man had feelings for the empath.

Said empath was not doing so well. Nathan continuingly called and tried to make contact with her, but she refused his every attempt. She really had nothing to say to him and she knew she'd have a hard time keeping her emotions in check if she did confront him. She felt an utter fool for having a relationship with him.

But this was not the reason she wasn't doing so well. The truth was, she felt very confused; and confusion always scared her. The moment she'd shared with Beast Boy the day before in the med bay replayed in her mind over and over. The way he'd stared into her eyes, it haunted her. And the feelings she'd experienced seemed to be aroused whenever she thought of the moment. She wasn't sure what it all meant. And a part of her didn't want to know.

And then there was the speech Beast Boy had given that had left her completely floored and curious. She wanted to know who it was that Beast Boy felt so strongly for. She not only heard passion in his voice, she'd heard pain and suffering. It was obvious the feelings he was harboring for this person were eating away at his very soul. She found herself actually wishing she could feel such emotions, for the experience alone.

She walked into the common room where all eyes were on the large television screen. The news was on and it was a press conference being held. On it stood Robin who was going to talk about the controversial events that had occurred the day before between Beast Boy and Nathan Ross.

"…approached Beast Boy and forced him to a secluded area of the street. He then provoked my teammate repeatedly and then began to physically assault him. Beast Boy did not fight back and, despite the rumors that have spread, it was _not_because he thought himself to be weaker than Mr. Ross. It was because he was asked not to get into an altercation with Mr. Ross. Beast Boy is fine and is more than capable of helping to protect this fine city. Thank you."

The crowd began to ask questions, but Robin merely left the microphones. Cyborg turned the television off and sighed.

"That damn Nathan," he said. "Had to go crying to daddy."

"Thank God that street camera caught it," said Beast Boy. "That shut him up."

"Robin looks very handsome when he is on the television, doesn't he?" said Starfire. The two men looked at her oddly then rolled their eyes.

"Is everything alright?" asked Raven.

"Looks like it," said Cyborg. "Robin set the record nice and straight."

"Did you get any sleep last night," Raven asked Beast Boy.

"Actually, yeah," he said with a smile. "Slept through the whole night. I don't know why, but I did. I needed it, too, after the fight yesterday."

"Man, that wasn't a fight," said Cyborg. "A fight consists of two people fighting, you just got beat up."

"But you were very brave to not strike Nathan back," said Starfire. "I do not think I could manage such a feat."

"You just gotta have willpower, I guess," Beast Boy shrugged. "Hey, Raven, you wanna meditate together later?"

He turned towards her and their eyes met again. His jade eyes seemed to capture her and demand things of which she did not know. She felt an odd shiver pass over her and this led to her cheeks burning in a painful, aching way. She tore her eyes away from his and looked anywhere else.

"Uh, sure," she said, her heart palpitating oddly. What was this? Had there been some spell cast upon her? Upon them? She didn't like this at all.

"Cool, so, like, noon on the roof?" he asked.

"Yes, fine," she said and quickly exited the room.

"What was that about?" asked Cyborg, who'd witnessed, along with the other two, Raven's odd behavior in those few seconds.

"She did not look well," said Starfire.

"Any ideas, B?" asked Cyborg.

"Honestly, no," said Beast Boy, who was as curious as they were. In that moment when their eyes connected he'd smelt her scent slightly change. He wasn't sure what feelings had passed her, but he was certain that she'd never felt them before; at least, not around him.

Later that day he and Raven met atop the roof to meditate. He could tell something was a bit off with her by her reluctance to even look at him. She simply walked to her usual place, took a seat in the air, and began to meditate without even addressing him. He wasn't sure why this was, but he knew he hadn't done anything wrong lately to make her angry with him; at least, not that he knew of. So he took a seat as well and began to meditate alongside her.

Before he knew it he was in the dark place of his mind, where he always seemed to end up. He was reaching it quicker and quicker and he knew that Raven was proud of him for doing so well. He looked around the darkness and, sure enough, there the creature stood.

"Feeling well, I see," it said.

"Yeah, thanks to Raven's healing powers," said Beast Boy. "So, you wanna tell me why you didn't give me any nightmares last night?"

"I almost was going to, but I changed my mind at the last moment," said the creature. "You didn't fight back when Nathan attacked and for that I'm very angry. But then, you revealed your heart to Raven, though you didn't let her know your words were about her. For that, I decided to give you a peaceful night so that you could rest. You're welcome. But don't be fooled. You're nightmares are going to come again the next time you rest your eyes. So you better do as I say and save both of us the trouble."

"I'm not gonna do anything you say," said Beast Boy. "I'm the one in charge here. Besides, why should I care about those stupid nightmares now? I've gotten Nathan out of the picture, so they're just gonna be the same old nightmares I've always had."

"Do you really think all I had was Nathan's face to torture you with?" the creature cackled. "I'll show you far worse things than Nathan's pathetic face on your victim."

"Well, even if you do, I don't care," said Beast Boy. "They're just nightmares and I can handle them."

"You haven't been doing well up until now," it said.

"Maybe not, but I'm totally ready to take on anything you throw my way," said Beast Boy. "Just try me."

The creatures smirked and said, "Alright, I will."

Beast Boy opened his eyes and saw the far horizon from the roof. He stood up and rubbed his numb bottom and figured he must've been out for at least two hours. His legs were asleep as well and pricked him horribly as he put pressure on them. Once he got the feeling back in all of his extremities, he looked over to Raven to see if she was still meditating. She wasn't; she was simply sitting there, looking out over the bay. He could tell that something was troubling her and he knew he wouldn't be a good friend if he didn't try to help her.

"Hey," he said, getting her attention and taking a seat next to her. "You okay?"

"Yes," she said simply, her voice soft.

"You don't seem it," he said.

"I've just got a lot to think about, that's all," said Raven. "I'm still quite upset about Nathan."

"That you had to break up?" he queried.

"No, that I didn't realize how awful a person he was sooner," she sighed. "I always thought I was a good judge of character, for the most part, but now I see that it's one of my weaknesses."

"Well, I think you shouldn't think of Nathan as anything more than a friend, since you weren't really attracted to him," said Beast Boy.

"You don't kiss a friend," she said, frankly.

"Oh," he said, feeling a little piece of him die inside. "So you kissed, huh?"

"I assumed that was what couples do," she shrugged. "But, again, it wasn't anything all that great."

That made him feel a little better. "Well, in that case, maybe you should just think of him as practice guy," he said. "And now you can look for someone you actually like."

She grew quiet and tucked a rogue strand of violet hair that had been caught by the wind behind her ear. Beast Boy bit his lip and turned his gaze away from her, knowing that if his eyes lingered upon her for too long he was sure he'd go blind.

"So, are you ready to tell me who you like so passionately?" she asked suddenly.

This question certainly took him by surprise and he thought as quickly as he could. "Like I said, it's no one," he replied. "I was just talking out of my ass, that's all."

"I don't believe you," she said, never turning her gaze towards him.

"Well, it's the truth," he said and got to his feet. "I bet you never thought I could be so good with words." And with that he headed for the door to go back inside. His heart was racing and he was glad to get out of there without revealing anything.

Raven turned and watched him leave. She felt those odd feelings welling up inside of her again and quickly turned back towards the bay. These feelings were scaring her horribly and she wasn't sure what to make of them. It was as if Beast Boy's words from the day before had seeped into her being like a virus and now she was sick because of them. What did all of this mean? She was so frightened of the answer she decided to, once again, push it out of her mind.

Night fell and all occupants of the famous tower were in bed, fast asleep. Even Beast Boy had decided to take the risk and go to sleep. It was a decision he would regret soon enough. His frustrated primal side was going to make him see what control it could truly have over him.

* * *

The cool night air swept through his thick fur, making his skin shiver and tighten. He breathed heavily as he ran and with every breath that mouth watering scent enveloped his nose. Lord, he could taste it! A taste that was forbidden, tantalizing, and addictive. It gave him strength and made him move all the quicker. But this wasn't the scent that he was used to chasing after. Oh no, this one was so much sweeter.

Her panting breath reached his ears and his eyes narrowed. He could see her! Her scent mixed with her terror made a pungent aroma that made his head dizzy and he nearly lost himself. She was defenseless, helpless, and scared; he wouldn't want her any other way.

Suddenly she tripped and that was all he needed to reach her at last. He pounced upon her and pinned her to the ground. His claws dug and pierced her skin allowing the scent of her blood to rise into the air. She screamed and begged for her life but he no longer cared for her words. He only cared for her flesh. He bent down and licked her neck, tasting the salt of her sweat and the perfume of her scent. He looked down at her and took in her frightened, violet eyes. At last, she was his! ...

* * *

He awoke with a gasp and found himself falling to the floor. He was shaking all over and felt completely drained. He carefully lifted himself off of the floor and it was then he realized that he wasn't in his bedroom; he was in the common room. He got to his feet and looked around, feeling very confused. His heart was racing and he found himself to be completely naked. He saw that pieces of his boxers were scattered all around him. He quickly decided to head back to his room.

As the common room doors opened onto the hallway he was shocked by what he saw. The hall had been scratched and torn up horribly. He carefully walked his way back to his room and noted that every hallway looked like it'd been attacked. By the aching feeling in his fingers he knew that he'd done it. And his heart sank.

He made it back to his room and found that it'd been trashed as well. His mind raced and he felt very frightened. This wasn't good; this wasn't good at all. His primal side was now using his beast form against him in his sleep. And, the worst thing of all, he'd dreamt that he'd attacked Raven.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 12

It was a long night, but he was able to keep himself occupied by cleaning up the mess he'd created in his sleep. He first attempted to clean the hallways, but soon realized it was too large a task and Cyborg would know what to do. So he decided to fix his room up the best he could. His mattress was torn, blankets shredded, his bunk beds scratched, it was a total mess. But it kept him busy so he didn't realize how much his body wanted to go back to sleep.

When morning came the other occupants of the tower awoke to quite a scene as they exited their rooms. They followed the destruction and realized that it led from Beast Boy's room to the common room. It was clear that things were only getting worse for the poor changeling.

"Raven, you've got to help him," said Robin. "This is getting serious."

"I've offered my help, but he doesn't want it," said Raven.

"Cyborg, was your antidote for the containment of Beast Boy's primal side not affective?" Starfire asked.

"This is different from the times he changed before," said Cyborg. "He should have complete control of it. I'm guessing this is all psychological. I don't know what's going on in that green head of his. All I know is that it's gonna take me forever to fix the hallways."

The common room doors opened and there he stood, looking a little sleep deprived but nothing they weren't used to at this point. By the look on his face they could see that he was embarrassed about what he'd done and didn't need to be lectured on it.

"Good morning, friend," said Starfire.

"Morning," he said in a down tone.

"How're you doing?" Robin asked.

"Not too good, to be honest," he said and went to the fridge. "I'm guessing you've all seen the hallway."

"Yeah, we did," said Cyborg. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Not particularly," said Beast Boy as he drank an entire carton of orange juice. "Anyway, I'm heading out."

"Where're you going?" asked Robin.

"I need to go get a few things," he said. "I won't be too long."

"Do you want someone to go with you?" Robin asked.

"No, I think I'll be okay," he said and headed for the doors.

"Beast Boy?" said Raven.

He stopped and turned towards her. "Yeah?" he said.

"I think I should come," she said. "I don't trust Nathan not to show up and try to start something with you again. Is it alright if I accompany you?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," he said, quite surprised.

She headed over to the door with him and the two headed to the roof. Again, he noticed that she didn't make any eye contact with him. What was with her? Oh well, no matter, she wanted to go with him into the city. He was quite glad to know that she cared enough about him that she didn't want Nathan to confront him again, but, then again, that made him feel weak. God, there was just too much going on for him to think about all of this.

Raven walked alongside Beast Boy, her face staring straight ahead. In truth, she didn't want to be alone with him. Not when he was giving her these odd symptoms. Was she, perhaps, growing allergic to him? As preposterous as that sounded, it was the only thing that made any sense to her. But, she really didn't trust Nathan to leave the changeling alone so she wanted to go along, just in case.

They reached the roof and took off towards the city. Raven felt a slight amount of relief with Beast Boy in a bird form. It didn't take long for them to cross the bay and reach the city. Once they landed he transformed back to his human form and the two began to walk within the city.

"So, where are we going?" she asked, realizing she had no idea where their true destination was.

"The hardware store," said Beast Boy.

"May I ask why?" she said.

"I need some locks and stuff to keep me in my room," he said.

"You're really going to go through the trouble of trying to lock yourself in your room rather than have me help you?" she asked.

"Yup," he said, simply.

Raven was quite sick of his stubbornness, so she decided not to push the issue any further. He really mustn't have wanted her to go inside his mind if he would rather lock himself away. She knew he hated being locked anywhere, since it made him feel caged.

The two reached the hardware store and entered. Beast Boy went straight to the locks and began to look through them. Raven stood near the counter, waiting for him to make his selections. She watched as he grabbed three locks and then went over to an area full of chains. She was surprised to see him ask for a few yards of them. Of course, she knew his beast form couldn't be restrained with chains alone. But she wasn't about to tell him that. He obviously didn't want any help from her.

She heard a tapping on the storefront window and looked. To her dismay, there Nathan stood. She sighed and decided to go get rid of him before Beast Boy saw. She quickly made sure the changeling's attention was still being occupied then stepped outside.

"What do you want, Nathan?" she said coldly.

"Why won't you return any of my calls?" he asked.

"Because that's what a person does when they don't want to talk to someone," she said plainly.

"Come on, Raven, don't be like that," he said. "I know I shouldn't have beat up on your friend, but he was really asking for it."

"I don't care if he was begging for it, you had no right to even touch him," she said.

"Okay, I was wrong!" said Nathan. "I'm sorry. Now can we put all of this behind us?"

"If you think I'd even consider getting back together with you you're far more delusional than even I could've predicted," she said. "Besides, the truth is, I never really liked you, Nathan."

"What're you talking about?" he asked.

"I never felt anything more for you than I would any other friend," she said. "I thought that that was what being a couple meant, but I've discovered I was quite misinformed."

"But I like you!" he said. "I thought we had something special."

"Well, we didn't," she said plainly. "So, please, leave me and my teammates alone." She turned to walk back into the store.

"This is all that green bastard's fault!" Nathan shouted. Raven stopped and turned back to him. "If it wasn't for him everything would be fine! Don't you see it, Raven? He did this on purpose?"

"Nathan, go home," she said.

"He's nothing but a freak and an animal!" he said, angrily. "Why do you care so much about him? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked him!"

Raven frowned and her eyes blazed. "If you don't leave this instant I'll make you so frightened of the dark you won't even be able to blink," she said through clenched teeth. "And that's not a threat, Nathan, that's a promise."

Nathan frowned, said, "Fine," and walked on down the street. He felt anger consume him and he knew he couldn't let this lie. "I'll show her. She'll see what you are, Beast Boy. I'll make sure of it."

Raven watched Nathan walk away and shook her head in disgust then reentered the hardware store. She saw Beast Boy at the counter with two large bags filled with chains and locks.

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

"Nowhere," she said. "Are you all set?"

"Yup, got everything I need," he said, picking up his bags.

"Great, let's head home," she said.

The two exited the store and started walking to the edge of the city before they took off into the air. Beast Boy immediately noticed a familiar scent outside of the store. He wrinkled his nose at the smell as he remembered who it belonged to. It was Nathan's.

"So, I'm guessing you and Nathan spoke?" he said.

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"I can smell his awful stink," he said. "Is everything okay?"

"I suppose so," she said. "He thought I'd take him back. No offense, but men are rather simple and stupid creatures."

"I won't take offense if you change that statement to 'some men' instead of men," he said with a grin.

"Fine, some men," she corrected herself. "Anyway, he better not try to speak with me again. I've had just about enough of him."

"Hey, if he tries anything you just tell me," said Beast Boy. "Now that you're not together I can finally fight back if I have to."

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself," she said.

"I know, but I was just throwing it out there," he said with a shrug.

"Do you really expect me to accept your help when you won't accept mine?" she stated.

"Completely different situations," he said. "And I have a good reason for not wanting you going into my mind."

"Which is?" she asked.

"None of your business," he said in an odd manner.

"Fine," she said in a cross tone.

"Come on, don't be made," he said. "It's just personal, that's all."

"You don't trust me," she said.

"No! It's not that," he said quickly.

"It's alright, Beast Boy," she said walking quickly, as if she couldn't stand to even stand beside him anymore. "You're entitled to trust who you want."

"I do trust you, Raven," he said, picking up the pace to catch up to her. "I really do. But there's just some stuff I don't want you to know. I mean, can you honestly say that you don't have secrets?"

"I don't have secrets as much as I have information you don't know about," she said.

"That's the same thing!" he said.

"No, it's not," she said. "A secret is information that you don't want people to find out about. I'm not hiding anything from you or anyone else. You simply haven't asked the appropriate questions that would cause me to reveal said information to you."

"Fine, then tell me all of this information we don't know about," he said.

"No," she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I don't feel very obliging to you right now," she said and walked even faster.

"Just because I won't let you help me?" he said, practically running to keep up with her. "You know, you're being really immature."

"You're one to talk," she spat.

"What's you're deal?" he asked, growing angry with her.

"Just leave me alone," she said, lifting off of the ground. He watched her fly high into the sky and then go straight for the tower.

"What's with her?" he asked, feeling rather flustered.

Raven flew as quickly as she could and reached the tower in no time. She immediately went to her room. She collapsed onto her bed and did her best to control the ever building emotional tension within her. She hadn't meant to get angry with him, she truly hadn't. It was just what Nathan had said. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked him!' That one sentence had hit her surprisingly hard and, yet, she still wasn't sure why. What was going on with her? She buried her face into her bedding and prayed that this confusing mess would go away.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 13

The cool night air swept through his thick fur, making his skin shiver and tighten. He breathed heavily as he ran and with every breath that mouth watering scent enveloped his nose. Lord, he could taste it! A taste that was forbidden, tantalizing, and addictive. It gave him strength and made him move all the quicker. But this wasn't the scent that he was used to chasing after. Oh no, this one was so much sweeter.

Her panting breath reached his ears and his eyes narrowed. He could see her! Her scent mixed with her terror made a pungent aroma that made his head dizzy and he nearly lost himself. She was defenseless, helpless, and scared; he wouldn't want her any other way.

Suddenly she tripped and that was all he needed to reach her at last. He pounced upon her and pinned her to the ground. His claws dug and pierced her skin allowing the scent of her blood to rise into the air. She screamed and begged for her life but he no longer cared for her words. He only cared for her flesh. He bent down and licked her neck, tasting the salt of her sweat and the perfume of her scent. He looked down at her and took in her frightened, violet eyes. At last, she was his!

"No," she cried, her voice shaking and full of fear.

He smirked and lifted one of his paws to his lips, tasting her blood. Oh, it was better than any wine God himself would allow his pallet to be drenched with. And he wanted more. He held her down with one arm and with the other tore the material away from her left shoulder. She squirmed beneath him, but he knew she would not get away. He bent down and gently ran his fangs across her pale, unscathed skin. Her breaths were quick and her heart pounded furiously in her chest. She let out small whines with every breath and, though they were of fear, he found them to be quite erotic in his ears.

He ran his tongue of his fangs then placed them upon her skin firmly. He pierced through her skin and as the blood ran over his lips she screamed in agony…

* * *

"Ah!" he screamed.

The cold air of the bay hit his bare skin and made his shake all the more. He found himself standing outside near the rocks of the island at sunrise. Once again, he was completely exposed. His heart almost hurt it was racing so fast and he fell to his knees. His cool skin was peppered with sweat and began the taste of Raven's dream blood still lingered in his mouth. He spit upon the ground and shook his head, trying to regain his bearings.

He felt a blanket being draped over his naked form, startling him. He sat up and saw Raven sitting next to him.

"R-Raven?" he said, feeling confused.

"Shh," she said, making sure he was covered with the blanket. "You're okay."

Her voice was so calm, it actually took a little of the edge off of him. And when he took in her glorious felt he felt better all the more. He held the blanket close to him, trying to take in its warmth, and did his best to relax.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I heard a loud noise," she said. "I got up and found you tearing about the tower in your beast form. You saw me and then jumped through the window in the common room. Had you not been in that form you would've died."

"Are the others up?" he asked

"I don't think so," she said. "I only heard you because I had to go to the bathroom."

Beast Boy took all of this in and hung his head forward. "I guess the chains and locks didn't work," he sighed.

"Apparently not," said Raven. "Come on, let's go inside. I'll make you some tea to warm you up." She stood up and helped him to stand as well.

Beast Boy couldn't believe the destruction he'd caused this time. Cyborg was going to have his ass for sure. He sat at the table, still clad in only the blanket, and waited as Raven made some tea. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He couldn't go around trashing the tower every night. He now regretted saying that he could handle anything to his primal side.

"Here," said Raven, handing him a hot mug.

"Thanks," he said softly and took it.

She took a seat across from him at the table with her own mug and began to slowly nurse it. He looked down into the liquid for a few moments before actually beginning to sip it.

"Beast Boy," Raven began with a sigh. "I think you really need help. And I think you should let me help you before things get really serious."

"I'll get it under control," he said, staring into the bottom of his mug. "I know I can. I'm not an animal."

"I know you're not," she said gently. "And no one thinks you are. I'm just… I'm just worried about you."

He heard the sincerity in her voice and looked up from his tea. His eyes met hers and he saw the desperation that had built up behind her beautiful violet orbs. He felt a chill pass through him and he bit his lip.

"I'll be okay," he said, looking away from her. "I can handle this."

"But what if you can't?" she asked. "What then? Please, come to me if you need help."

"It's my problem and I'll handle it," he said stubbornly.

"You jumped out of a window this morning," she said, her voice just on the edge of becoming very upset. "And who knows what'll happen tomorrow morning. Beast Boy, I don't want anything to happen to you. None of us do."

"For the last time, I don't need your help!" he snapped at her. "Mind your own business!"

He would never forgive himself for saying this, for the look of hurt that filled Raven's eyes actually caused him pain. She then narrowed her eyes and got up from the table with her cup. She went into the kitchen and placed it in the sink.

"You don't want my help? Fine," she stated. "Consider my offer retracted. I wash my hands of you."

The two heard the common room doors open. They both turned and saw Robin entering. He was quite taken back by the sight of the common room and the large broken window.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ask him," said Raven, gesturing to Beast Boy as she walked towards the doors. Robin quickly stepped aside as she angrily left the room.

Robin looked back towards Beast Boy and said, "So, what happened?"

"I turned into my beast form in my sleep again," Beast Boy sighed. "And I sorta jumped out the window this time."

Robin looked around at the damage and sighed. "Beast Boy, this isn't looking good," he said.

"I know," the changeling replied.

"It doesn't look like you're making any progress with getting control of your primal side," said Robin. "I hate to do this, but until you do, I'm putting you on probation."

"What? Dude, you can't do that!" said Beast Boy.

"Do you think I want to!" said Robin. "I really didn't want to do this, but I have no choice at this point. You're not sleeping well, you're tearing about the tower when you are asleep, and you're turning into your beast form. This has been going on for far too long. You should've made some progress by now, but, if anything, things have been getting worse. And ever since the incident with Nathan people have been questioning your performance and we don't need to give them any reason to doubt you or the team."

"I can't believe this," said Beast Boy, placing his head in his hands. "This can't be happening."

Robin sighed and sat down where Raven had once sat. "Look, Beast Boy, I know you have it in you to overcome this. And I know how much fighting with the team means to you. So concentrate on getting this under control, okay? Your health is important."

They heard the doors open and then a gasp. They both looked and there stood Cyborg, jaw hanging wide open. Beast Boy braced himself.

"W-What happened?" he asked, his face in shock. "The couch and the fridge and the-" He nearly fell backwards. "What the hell happened to the window?"

Beast Boy sunk low into his seat, feeling the lowest he'd felt in a very long time. He'd hurt Raven, made her angry with him, was suspended from crime fighting, and now he was going to have to face the wrath of Cyborg.

Raven sat on her bed, back against her looming headboard. She felt quite distraught and ever confused. Seeing Beast Boy that morning in his beast form had frightened her, but that was nothing compared to the horror she'd felt when he'd jumped out of the window. And then when she'd gone down to see him he'd changed back to his human form, but was simply standing there; trapped in that place between sleep and wakefulness. She'd gazed upon the back of his naked form for a moment then quickly went back inside to grab a blanket; knowing he'd be cold when he awoke. When he did he seemed so helpless, so frightened and confused.

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She was emotionally exhausted, of that she was sure. She, who was forbidden from feeling any emotions, had been swarmed many new and strange sensations that had left her confused and helpless. And all she knew was the Beast Boy was the instigator. Ever since the day Nathan had beaten him to a bloody pulp she'd been seeing him in a strange new light. Whenever he was around she felt odd things well up inside her and when their eyes met she was overwhelmed with something that made her feel… well, she literally felt everything that Beast Boy had described to her when he'd told her about what it's like to have feelings for someone.

So, was that it? Did she possibly have feelings for Beast Boy that went past friendship? The thought alone scared her and she quickly crawled into the darkness that is denial. But then, there was her reaction to what Nathan had said the day before. That even he suspected her of liking the changeling. She didn't know what to think. The world had become a very odd place to her recently.

She heard a knock on her door and said, "Who is it?"

"It is Starfire," said the alien princess' voice.

Raven sighed and said, "Come in."

Her door slid aside and Starfire entered. "I hope I am not disturbing you," she said.

"No," said Raven. "I'm just… thinking, that's all. Nothing important."

"Have you seen what Beast Boy did in his sleep?" Starfire asked.

"Yes and I'd rather we didn't talk about it," said Raven.

"Why? Did something happen?" Starfire asked, taking a seat on Raven's bed.

"Like I said, I don't want to talk about it," Raven repeated.

"Oh," said Starfire. "Well, have you been informed that Beast Boy has been suspended from fighting in our battles against crime?"

"Robin suspended him?" Raven asked, surprised.

"Yes," Starfire said with a nod. "He is very concerned about Beast Boy's health so he is not allowed to go on missions with us until he is well again."

"Fat chance of that happening," said Raven. "He obviously can't do it on his own and he's too stubborn to ask for or take any help."

"But he is sick," said Starfire. "Perhaps he is not thinking correctly."

"As if he ever could," Raven grumbled.

"Why are you so upset, friend?" asked Starfire. "It has been a while since I have seen you in such a condition."

Raven sighed and said, "It's nothing, Starfire. I'm just dealing with some new problems that I'm not sure how to handle."

"Can I be of any help?" asked Starfire.

"I don't think so," said Raven. She knew that Starfire could probably help her, but she was scared of the advice she'd be given. "But thank you for the offer."

"You are worried about Beast Boy, correct?" Starfire asked.

"Aren't you?" Raven replied.

"Yes," said Starfire. "But I believe you are worried more."

"I just don't want something to happen to him when I know I can do something to help him," said Raven. "I don't need to feel any more guilt."

Meanwhile, within the city, Nathan was at the police station on the main computer looking for information on a certain incident that had happened a few years before concerning Beast Boy and Adonis. More importantly, he was looking for the chemical that had altered both Beast Boy and Adonis' DNA. And, to his luck, he found just what he was looking for.

"Soon," he said to himself. "I'll make everyone see just what you are, Beast Boy."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 14

Beast Boy sat in his room feeling very depressed. He was the only one in the tower, aside from Silkie, for the team had been called out on a mission. Night had fallen and the tower was very quiet. He'd never felt so alone before.

"This sucks," he said to the quiet air.

He stood up and looked around at what was left of his room. He'd nearly destroyed it at this point. The broken chains and locks were scattered about the floor. He couldn't believe such strength resided inside of him. He looked into his mirror and frowned, disgusted with the green man that was staring back at him.

"I hate you," he said through his teeth.

"Well, I'm not very fond of you, either," a voice said.

He jumped and looked around.

"Who is that?" he demanded.

"After all of our sessions together you don't remember my voice?" it laughed.

Beast Boy growled and said, "It's you. My damn primal side. What do you want?"

"Just thought I'd keep you company," its voice said. "You are all alone, after all."

"Shut up," Beast Boy snarled.

"I don't blame you for being upset," it said. "But, just remember, you did this to yourself."

"You did this to me!" Beast Boy shouted to the air. "You're the one who's been ruining my life!"

"I told you, let me out and I'll leave you alone," it said.

"And I told you I'll never do that!" said Beast Boy. "I'll figure a way to stop you from doing this. I'm not gonna let you control me anymore! I'm going to get rid of you!"

"Do you really think you can do that?" its voice laughed. "Do you think I'd ever let you be free of me? If you think so, then let me tell you right now, you'll never be rid of me; of what I am."

"You're just a stupid part of me!" said Beast Boy. "And right now you're nothing but a voice. I just have to plug my ears and I won't have to listen to you."

"Just a voice, eh?" it said. "Then look in the mirror again."

Beast Boy looked and was shocked to not see his own reflection but the reflection of his beast form! The very creature who was taunting him!

"Am I just a voice now?" it asked, looking at him through the mirror.

"I don't care if I can see you," said Beast Boy, turning away. "All I have to do is look away or close my eyes and you're gone!"

"But the next time you look back in the mirror I'll be there," said the creature. "As long as you live, I'll be right here."

Beast Boy closed his eyes and held his head. "This isn't real," he said to himself. "This is just a stupid illusion being put on by my brain. I just have to will it away and it'll all end!"

"This is no illusion!" said the creature. "I'm here to stay, no matter what you pretend."

"You can't stay because you can't be controlled!" said Beast Boy.

"You can't control me because you've allowed me to live untamed for so long," it said.

"Well I'm done letting you be untamed," said Beast Boy. "I'm sick of you being around. I don't even need you!"

"You'll never be rid of me, you fool!" it said. "I'll be inside you forever!"

"No!" Beast Boy screamed. "I won't let that happen! I'm going to get you out of me if it's the last thing I do!"

"And I'm going to bring us together, if it's the last thing _I_ do," it responded. "When I'm done, we'll be as one! You'll truly live up to your name of _Beast_ Boy!"

"Don't you understand?" Beast Boy cried. "I'm the one in charge here and I decide what happens with my body! And it's time for you to die already! You've done nothing but ruin my life!"

"I can't die!" he laughed. "I won't die!"

"Damn you!" Beast Boy screamed. "Leave me alone! I hate you!"

"Then you hate yourself," it said. "Because you are me and I am you. We are one, Beast Boy, embrace me and the possibilities are endless!"

"No, never!" said Beast Boy. He quickly bolted out of his room, which felt suffocating, and began to walk down the quiet hallway. He was really questioning his sanity now.

"You can't just walk away from me," the creature's voice said.

"Leave me alone," Beast Boy demanded.

"I'm not going anywhere," it said.

"Fine, then shut up," Beast Boy growled. "You're giving me a headache."

"You're giving yourself a headache," the voice replied.

Beast Boy growled and continued on his way down the hall. He finally reached the common room and felt the large open space help him to feel a little less trapped. He prayed that the others got home soon, since he knew the voice would shut up once they were around.

"Why do you want them to return?" the voice asked. "I'd think you'd want them to stay away, especially in your condition."

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"Do you really think I'll stop at making you tear about the tower in your sleep?" it laughed. "I'm only getting started. The next step is, of course, attacking your friends."

"Then I'll tell them to fight me back," said Beast Boy.

"And then, of course, I'll go against my own principles and have your darkest nightmare come true," it said.

Beast Boy felt a shiver go down his spine and fury boiling within him. "I won't attack Raven," he growled. "You can't make me do anything to her!"

"Oh? Can't I?" it taunted.

"You're not gonna touch her!" Beast Boy screamed. "I won't let you!"

"You can't stop me," it chuckled. "I'll do as I please until you do as I command!"

"I'll never let you hurt her!" Beast Boy shouted.

"You're the one who'll hurt her!" it said. "She'll suffer because of you!"

"I'm sick of hearing this!" said Beast Boy, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. "You are me, I am you, we are one, enough already! If we're the same being then the only way to get rid of you would be to…"

Beast Boy paused as a thought came to him. A dark thought that struck him like an epiphany.

"Don't even think about it," warned the creature's voice.

"Why? Are you scared?" asked Beast Boy, going to one of the kitchen drawers and pulling it open.

"If I am then so are you," it said.

"At this point, I don't even care," said Beast Boy, slipping a large knife out of the drawer.

"Well you should!" it said, growing frantic.

"You are me, I am you," said Beast Boy, placing the cold steel of the knife to his wrist. "So if I die, you die too!"

"You don't have the guts," the voice said darkly.

"Oh, don't I?" said Beast Boy, applying a bit of pressure to the knife that lay against his skin. "You think you can threaten me and get away with it? To tell me that you're going to force me to attack my friends? That I'll attack Raven? I'd rather die then cause any of them harm. And I'd rather die then spend another day listening to you!"

In one swift movement he pulled the knife along his wrist and, as the adrenaline kicked in, slid it across the other as well. He then threw the knife aside and held his bleeding wrists up, letting the blood course down his green arms.

"There! I'm free of you!" he screamed.

"You idiot!" the voice cried. "What have you done?"

Beast Boy felt relief wash over him, but just as quickly the reality of his actions set in. Shock consumed him as he brought his arms down and looked at the deep cuts he'd made in each wrist. The blood poured from each wound and within moments he felt lightheaded. He wavered about and grabbed onto the counter, but his legs gave out and he crumpled to the floor. His body began to shake and fear took him.

"Oh God," he said as he laid his head on the cool floor of the kitchen. "W-What've I done?"

His heart raced and he felt tears come to his eyes. He was going to die here, on the kitchen floor. He was going to die by suicide; the coward's death. No, he couldn't let his friends think he'd done it for selfish reasons. With whatever strength was left in him he rolled onto his side and, with his own blood, wrote on the floor, 'I did it for you.' That was as far as he got when he felt everything within him calm down. A feeling of euphoria washed over him and he almost felt as if he were floating.

The blood that continued to flow out of his wounds felt hot and sticky. His nose was overwhelmed with the scent of his own blood and he felt sick. He moved himself onto his back and stared up at the tall ceiling of the common room. The outer areas of his sight began to grow dark and creep inward. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his head. Finally the darkness took his sight and his breaths began to slow and become shallow. He felt one last moment of fear before slipping out of consciousness.

Within the city Nathan strolled into the cities most important laboratory. He looked around and saw that everyone had gone home for the night. He smiled to himself, quite glad to be rid of any witnesses. He went straight to a storage room in the back and began searching for the chemicals.

"There better be enough," he said to himself as he looked around. "Not that I'd know how much is necessary."

He found about ten refrigerators and began going through them, looking for the chemical's name on the labels. And, in the third refrigerator, he found just what he was looking for. The fridge was completely filled with the chemicals.

"Perfect," he said, smiling to himself. He opened up a large cooler and began to place in as many bottles of the chemicals as he could.

"Hey! What're you doing?" came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw a security guard, shining a flashlight on him.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was here," he said very coolly and flashed his brilliant smile. "I'm Nathan Ross, police chief Ross' son."

"Oh," said the security guard, putting his flashlight down. "You sure gave me a shock there, son."

"Sorry about that," he said, still smiling. "If I'd known you were here I would've checked in with you before come in here."

"What _are_ you doing in here?" the guard asked.

"My father wanted me to get a few samples of these chemicals," he said, innocently. "I don't know why, but he does. I was supposed to do it earlier today but I forgot. You're not gonna tell anyone, are you? Cuz my dad will skin me alive if he finds out."

"No, don't worry about it," said the guard. "It'll be our little secret."

"Thanks," said Nathan, closing the cooler.

And, just like that, Nathan walked out of the laboratory with nearly two gallons of highly unstable chemicals in plain sight of the security guard. And he did it with a smile on his face and dark intentions in his heart.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 15

Unfamiliar sounds filled his ears. He slowly opened his eyes but could barely make anything out. He waited for them to focus and the looked around him. He was quite curious to see what heaven looked like. To his surprise, heaven didn't look all that different from the tower's med bay.

'Maybe I'm stuck in purgatory,' he thought to himself. He looked down at his two wrists and found them both to be wrapped in gauze. 'What the hell's going on? I thought they'd be all healed when I died.'

He heard the door opening and lifted his gaze from his wounded wrists. He saw a large figure pass through the door and a slightly smaller figure follow in behind. His eyes weren't able to focus in properly until they were significantly closer.

"You're awake," said a familiar voice. "Thank God for that."

"Man, you scared us good," said another familiar voice. "You've been out for two days."

"Robin? Cyborg?" he said at last. "So… I really am in the med bay? Not Heaven?"

"Oh, I'll send you there if that's what you really want," said Cyborg, angrily. "What the hell were you thinking? You almost died!"

"If we had gotten home one minute later we wouldn't have been able to save you," said Robin.

"Well… I'm glad you guys got home in time," said Beast Boy, wiggling about so he could sit up a little more. "I really didn't know what I was doing."

"You wanna tell us what happened?" asked Cyborg.

Beast Boy sighed and said, "It was my damn primal side. It started talking to me, taunting me. We fought and fought and then I realized that the only way to get rid of it was to kill it and the only way to kill it was… to kill myself. I was so angry that I didn't realize what I was doing until after it was done. I left a note on the floor."

"The one that said, 'I did it for you'?" said Robin. "Do you have any idea how guilty that made all of us feel? Making us feel like we're the reason you attempted killing yourself?"

"I meant that I did it to save you guys," said Beast Boy. "It said that it was going to start attacking you guys next. I wasn't going to let that happen."

Robin sighed and said, "I'll go tell the girls you're okay. Starfire hasn't stopped crying for one minute since we found you on the kitchen floor." He turned and left Cyborg and Beast Boy alone.

"So, uh, am I gonna be okay?" Beast Boy asked.

"If you mean are you gonna survive your near suicide, then yes," said Cyborg. "But, let me tell you right now, B, you're not gonna be okay until you get this under control."

"I know," said Beast Boy, looking down. "This is really getting serious, isn't it?"

"_Getting_?" said Cyborg, glaring down at the changeling.

"Okay, it _is_ serious," said Beast Boy. "So, why am I still all laid up? Why didn't Raven heal me?"

"I'll let her tell you herself," said Cyborg.

A half hour later Beast Boy lay in the med bay all alone, waiting for Raven. Starfire had visited him and had broken down into tears upon seeing him awake. He could see that she really had been crying nonstop; her green eyes were an odd brown color from crying so hard and her cheeks were raw from the salt of her tears. Seeing the beautiful alien in such a condition really made him feel bad. He was really curious how Raven was going to react to seeing him. And he was curious as to why she wouldn't heal him when he was near death.

He heard the door open and he looked towards it. She stepped inside and gently closed the door behind her. She stood there for a moment, as if collecting her thoughts, and then turned towards him. Her eyes met his and he cringed. They burned with rage and hurt. Her jaw was tight and her brows furrowed. She walked over to him and stood at the edge of his bed. Beast Boy truly felt frightened of her.

"Why?" she asked through tight lips.

"Why?" he repeated.

"Why did you do such a stupid thing?" she demanded.

"I-I wasn't thinking," he said.

"Damn right you weren't," she said, narrowing her eyes. "You never think. You just act. And this time you nearly killed yourself."

"I know and I'm sorry," he said.

"Sorry? Sorry!" she said, walking around the bed and going to his side. She loomed over him and made everything in the med bay shake. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, slightly moving away from her.

"Something more than sorry," she said. "I'm damn sick of repairing your body, Beast Boy."

"But you didn't repair me this time," he said, holding up his wrapped up wrists.

"I brought you back from death you idiot!" she said angrily, causing three jars full of cotton balls to explode. "I stood over you for two hours helping your body regenerate enough blood to keep you alive. And do you want to know why I didn't heal these?" She grabbed his wrists. "I didn't heal this one so you would feel a fraction of the pain you've put me and the team through. And I didn't heal this one so you would always be reminded of your stupidity. I hope the scars never fade." She threw his wrists back at him.

"Ow!" he said, feeling the sting of his wounds. "Okay, I get it."

"I just don't understand why," she said, her voice growing softer. She ran her fingers through her hair, tiredly. "Why did you do this?"

"I wasn't thinking," he repeated. "I was too caught up in the moment. My primal side got the better of me."

"I'm just… I'm so furious with you," she said. Her body was shaking she was so full of pent up emotions. "What you did was so cowardly and selfish and-"

"I know," he said, quickly. "I know and I'm sorry I did it. I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life."

"Do you have any idea how much you hurt _me_?" she asked, pain coating each word. "The fact that you would rather kill yourself then come to me for help makes me wonder why I even try. I offered you my help over and over again and you refused it at every turn. And then you go and do something like this. Why don't you want my help, Beast Boy? What did I do to make you not trust me?"

"Raven, it's not like that," he said. "I've told you it's not like that."

"Then what is it?" she asked, almost pleading.

"It's just… this is my burden," he said. "I don't want you to have to bear it with me. You've already had enough drama in your life."

"Beast Boy, when I offered you my help I made the choice to bear whatever it was that was burdening you," said Raven. "And after I offered you my help you just throw it all in my face and tell me to mind my own business. Do you really not care about anyone but yourself?"

"I didn't turn you down to hurt you," he said. "I'm trying to protect you. This thing inside of me, it won't stop until I do what it wants. And it's threatening to make me attack you guys. I don't want anything to happen to you, Raven."

Raven sighed and took a seat on the edge of his bed. "I don't want anything to happen to you, either," she said, hanging her head and looking at the clean med bay floor. "I… I care about you."

Beast Boy was quite surprised by this admission. "You do?" he asked, his voice slightly cracking.

"Of course I do," she said, turning to him so that their eyes met. Her eyes were filled with care and concern. She quickly looked back to the floor. "Do you have any idea what it's like to come home and find your friend on the floor in a pool of his own blood? Your eyes were blank and your skin was pale. I thought you were dead. And the… the feeling that filled me… it was the worst feeling I've ever felt."

Beast Boy had never heard such feeling, such emotion, in her voice before. He knew that she must've been considerably upset about this. He gently reached his hand out and placed it on hers. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he said. "I can't even imagine how shocking it must've been."

"I was the one who found you, you know," she said.

He hadn't known that and it only made him feel all the worse. "I'm so sorry," he said and gently rubbed her hand. He didn't know if he was pushing the boundaries, but it just felt like the right thing to do. She'd obviously been traumatized by the event. "I really am, Raven."

And then she did something that truly shocked him. She rotated her hand slightly so that she could hold his. He felt his heart speed up and wondered if she had any idea how much this meant to him. They were actually holding hands.

"I'm so glad you're alright," she said softly. She wasn't sure what she was doing, holding his hand, but for the first time in a long while she needed to be comforted. And this simple physical contact with him made her feel better, though odd at the same time.

"I'm so glad you care about me," he replied.

She turned to him and their gazes met once again. The feeling that sparked between the two of them was reminiscent of electricity. It was something that made their hearts race and their minds become vacant. This feeling drove Beast Boy and did nothing but confuse Raven.

She then sighed and did something very brave. She leaned over and gently kissed his cheek, just catching the edges of his lips. "Don't ever scare me like that again," she said softly.

She began to pull away and that was when Beast Boy did something he'd always consider to be one of the bravest moments of his life. He quickly leaned forward and captured her lips with his own. She did not pull away, as he'd expected, she simply froze. Through his lips Raven felt a rush of his emotions; emotions she'd felt from him before but did not know whom they were intended for. But now it was all clear. She was the one he felt so passionate about. And she realized she'd be lying if she said she didn't return the feelings.

He gently pulled his lips away and said, "Raven, I promise, I'll never do something this stupid again."

"What? Kiss me?" she asked, a bit frazzled.

Beast Boy actually laughed. "No, I won't try to kill myself again," he clarified. "But, I won't kiss you again, if that's what you want. It's just… I had to kiss you at least once. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't."

Raven bit her lip and said, "It's me, isn't it? The one you were talking about a few days ago."

He nodded and said, "Yeah. It's you. And I meant every word."

She leaned over, said, "I know you did," and gave him a kiss of her own, for she knew she could never forgive herself if she didn't. She felt from her collarbone up blush a hot, intense blush that caused the monitoring equipment Beast Boy was hooked up to to jump around. She'd never felt such feelings before; especially not when she'd kissed Nathan. Now she understood why so many people craved intimate relationships. This feeling… it was unlike any she'd ever experienced before.

Beast Boy really questioned if he'd actually died now. How else could he explain Raven accepting his kiss and then giving him one of her own? This was all too good to be true and he feared the moment their lips came apart. But, when he placed his arms around her and felt the sting of his wrists he knew that this was real.

At last their lips broke apart and the two took in breaths of air. Beast Boy looked at the dark beauty with question, but when she looked at him with smiling eyes he felt comforted. He relaxed and smiled.

"Raven?" he said.

"Yes?" she replied.

"I think I'd like you to go inside my mind," he said. "So we can stop this primal problem once and for all."

He could feel the relief that exuded from the empath. "I'm so glad," she said. "As soon as you're a little stronger we'll do it and get it over with. I promise, it won't hurt."

"I know it won't," he smiled and took her hand again. "I trust you."

"And I trust you," she said, holding his hand in return.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 16

"He finally agreed?" asked Robin.

"Yes, thank goodness," said Raven, sipping a cup of tea.

"What has changed his mind?" asked Starfire.

"Probably the fact that he slit his wrists," said Cyborg. "Well, I'm glad this will finally be over with."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Robin asked Raven.

"I'll be fine," said Raven. "And when I'm through with him, Beast Boy will be fine as well."

"When're you gonna do it?" asked Cyborg.

"Tonight, after he's had some more rest," said Raven.

"Will you not consider healing him completely?" asked Starfire. "I am sure his wrists hurt him very much."

"Good," said Cyborg. "Little green moron deserves it."

"But it seems cruel to leave our friend in pain," said Starfire.

"I'm not doing it to be cruel, Starfire," said Raven. "I'm doing it to teach him a lesson. I can't always be fixing him up when he does something idiotic." She finished her tea and stood up from the table. "Well, I'm going to go meditate for a little while and then read. Robin, can Beast Boy and I have the day off tomorrow? I'm not sure how long this will take and I doubt either of us will be up for any missions tomorrow."

"Fine," said Robin. "Anything to get Beast Boy's primal side under control."

"Yeah, it's gonna cost me a fortune as it is to repair the hallways, the window, the fridge, the couch, and so on," said Cyborg. "If he goes on like this I'll have to build another tower for him to destroy instead of this one!"

While Cyborg ranted on and on, Raven headed to her room. As she walked she felt an oddly bubbly feeling within her. She even allowed herself to smile softly. She replayed the moments she and Beast Boy had kissed over and over again. She wasn't sure what this meant for the two of them, but she hoped it wouldn't result in anything negative.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy lay fast asleep in the med bay. To his relief, he was not plagued by horrible nightmares. He was pretty sure he'd scared his primal side pretty badly and it wasn't going to try anything for a little while. Not until he was healed up, at least. But Beast Boy knew that soon this would all be a distant memory. Raven would discipline his primal side once and for all and then, well, he wasn't sure what sort of future the two of them would have. He hoped she really did feel for him what he felt for her. If she did, then he was never going to let her go.

After meditating for three hours Raven sat on her bed, reading. She wanted her mind to be calm when she went into Beast Boy's and reading always helped her to relax. Everyone in the tower was aware of this, so she was surprised when she heard a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked. Who ever it was only responded with more knocking. She sighed and got up, placing her book aside. She reached her door and slid it aside. "Who is i-" She stopped upon seeing who it was.

"Hey Raven," said Nathan was a smile.

"Nathan," said Raven, shocked at seeing him. "What're you doing here? How'd you get in?"

"My dad's chief of police, remember?" he laughed. "The station's got the tower's blueprints on file. I just looked them over and figured out how to get in. So, come on, tell me you're not happy to see me."

"I'm not happy to see you," Raven said with a frown. "Now get out of here before I tell the others you're here."

"I just wanna talk," he said. "Like two civil people."

"We don't have anything to talk about," said Raven.

"I swear, it has nothing to do with us getting back together," said Nathan.

"Then what does it have to with?" she asked crossing her arms.

Nathan sighed and said, "Can I please come in? If I stay out here your teammates might see me."

Raven groaned and said, "Fine. But we're going to make this quick."

She left the doorway and headed back towards her bed. Nathan smiled to himself and walked inside. Once in, he turned around and slid her door shut.

"Alright, get on with it," said Raven. "Or get out of here. I have an appointment with Beast Boy in an hour."

"Don't worry, Raven," said Nathan. "This won't take long. And Beast Boy will pay for what he's done. Especially for what he's done to you."

"What're you talking about?" she sighed as she flipped through her book and tried to find the page she'd left off on.

"I have to say, we're all going to miss you very much," said Nathan. "I know I will." As the last word left his mouth his voice began to grow low and growl-like.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Raven, looking towards him like he was insane. But what her eyes met was not Nathan. "N-Natha-"

Beast Boy's nose twitched and he scrunched his face up. He was suddenly brought out of his sleep by the overwhelming smell of blood. He opened his eyes and looked around. It took him a few moments to actually register what he was seeing.

"W-What?" he said in shock of what lay before him. His clothing and his blankets were ripped apart and blood was everywhere. He looked over the side of his bed and, to his horror, he saw bloody paw prints. "No… no!" he cried and crawled out of the bed. He felt dizzy and weak, but he didn't care. He followed the paw prints out the door and was met with the horrifying sight of the hallway. "Oh God, this can't be happening!" He ran down the hallways, following the bloody prints. And then he saw where they'd originally come out of; Raven's room. He felt his blood run cold as he approached the room. "Please… no…"

He carefully slid the door aside and felt everything within him stop functioning; his lungs, his heart, his mind, everything. There she lay, beaten and practically mauled. The smell of her scent and her blood hit him with such intensity he immediately felt sick. He then fell to his knees and began to scream. Robin and Cyborg, who were the closest, were the first to arrive to the hysterical Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, what's-oh my God!" said Robin in shock.

"What happened?" asked Cyborg.

"I killed her!" Beast Boy cried out. "I killed her!"

"Is she dead?" asked Robin, going pale.

Cyborg quickly went into the room and up to Raven's bloody body. He checked for a pulse and said, "She's still alive! We've got to get her to the med bay, quick!"

Robin leapt into the room and help Cyborg pick her up and carry her out of the room. Beast Boy couldn't move. He just continued to cry and scream. By now, Starfire had made it to the scene. She soon joined Beast Boy in his screaming.

Robin and Cyborg got her to the med bay and quickly began to clean her up. They prayed that her healing powers would kick in soon. That is, if she had the strength left to. To their relief, within minutes she did levitate into the air and began to heal herself.

"Robin?" said Cyborg.

"Yeah?" Robin replied.

"Do you think he did it?" asked Cyborg.

Robin sighed and said, "Do you?"

"I don't know," said Cyborg, rubbing the back of his mechanical neck. "I know we said we'd never jump to conclusions again, but what better explanation is there?"

"She was definitely attacked by an animal," said Robin. "And a large one at that. Beast Boy was supposed to be sleeping and he only changes in his sleep. It seems foolish to think he didn't do it."

"Well, if he did, he wasn't conscious of it at the time," said Cyborg.

Suddenly the med bay door flew open and Starfire flew in looking very frantic. "Friends, please, you must come!" she cried. "Beast Boy is attempting to take his life again!"

"What?" the two shouted and quickly followed after her.

Beast Boy stood on the edge of the roof. He'd torn the bandages on his wrists off and the night air made them sting. He felt light headed and nauseas. He looked down at the rocks below and felt his body wavering back and forth. He felt absolutely dead inside. He heard the roof door fly open and the remaining members of his team that he hadn't attempted killing arrive.

"Beast Boy, don't do it!" said Robin.

"Yeah, come on man, we can talk about this," said Cyborg. They all carefully approached him.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Beast Boy with a shrug, still facing the dark horizon.

"Please, friend, we do not want you to hurt yourself," said Starfire. "You have already almost died once within seven days and we do not want you to attempt taking your life again!"

"Don't worry, I won't be attempting this time," said Beast Boy calmly. "It will be done."

"Beast Boy, think rationally," said Robin. "Raven's alive and she's healing herself as we speak. If you did this, which we're not saying you did, it wasn't your fault."

"Oh, come on, Robin!" Beast Boy screamed and spun around. "Of course I did it! Did you even look around? I'm the only one who could something like that!"

"We don't know that for sure," said Cyborg, going a little closer to the changeling. "We're not jumping to conclusions here."

"Well you should!" Beast Boy cried. "Don't deny the obvious!"

"Please, Beast Boy, come away from the roof," Starfire pleaded.

"I have no reason to," he said, turning back around. "The world is man or beast, but I'm neither and both! I'm not a human, I'm not a beast, I'm nothing! Give me one reason why I should live!"

"You _are_ a human, Beast Boy!" said Robin. "You were born human and, no matter what happens, you'll always be human."

"How can you say that I'm human when you know I'm more beast than anything?" he cried. "I'm just a mindless beast!"

"Come on, B, you're not a beast!" said Cyborg. "A mindless beast can't love, it can't see the difference between right and wrong, and a mindless beast doesn't have a soul!"

"You have a soul, Beast Boy," said Starfire with tears in her eyes.

"And who says I do?" said Beast Boy. "How can something with a soul maul and try to kill the one person they love more than anything? I have no soul!"

"Beast Boy, it doesn't have to end this way," said Robin. "You don't have to kill yourself. Raven's going to live. She's the only one who'll be able to tell us who attacked her. Do you really want to kill yourself only to find out you didn't do it?"

"Of course I did it, you idiot," Beast Boy growled. "I've attacked her in my sleep before, what would stop me from doing it again?"

"I'm just asking you to wait," said Robin. "Wait until we know what happened. Please."

Beast Boy grew quiet, something the three Titans weren't sure was good or bad. He then sighed and let out a soft chuckle. "You know, I really thought I was gonna have a happy ending," he said. "I finally got the girl and I was finally gonna take care of this creature inside of me. She even kissed me today. I thought my life was finally going to get better. And I knew I'd kill for her… I just never thought I'd kill _her_."

"But you did not kill her," said Starfire.

"I might as well have," said Beast Boy. "She'll never forgive me. And what's my future gonna hold now? I'm gonna be arrested for attempted murder and be thrown in jail. The rest of my life spent in a cage. I'd rather die then live the rest of my life like an animal in a zoo!"

And with that he stepped off of the edge of the roof. The three screamed and ran to where he once stood. To their shock, and relief, he'd changed into a hawk and was flying away. And as he flew he let out cry after cry.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 17

The park was quiet and dark but for a few street lamps lighting up the walking path. A soft wind blew, causing the leaves in the trees to dance and talk amongst them selves as leaves do in the dark of the night. But the quiet was disturbed by the cry of a hawk that flew above. It swooped down and, just before touching land, transformed into the green changeling. He tumbled onto the grass and landed on his stomach. He lay there and continued to cry. He grabbed the grass around him angrily and screamed.

"Why?" he cried. "Why am I here? What's the point? Everywhere I go I ruin someone's life. I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't want to live at all!"

"You idiot."

Beast Boy's ears perked up, but his heart sank upon hearing this voice. "I don't want to hear you right now," he said.

"Do you really think you did that to Raven?" it asked.

"Of course I did!" Beast Boy cried. "You said you'd make me attack her and I did!"

"If I made you attack her then wouldn't you have been dreaming as well?" it said. "You didn't have any dreams while you slept today, did you?"

"Well… no," said Beast Boy. "But, then who else could've done it? I'm the only one with the ability to change into a large beast!"

"My my, what do we have here?" asked a voice.

Beast Boy spun around and there, beneath a street lamp, stood Nathan. He leaned against he lamp, arms crossed, with a smug smile on his face. Beast Boy felt the hairs on his neck stand on end with rage.

"Talking to your self?" Nathan laughed. "I had no idea you were that far off the deep end."

"What're you doing here?" Beast Boy growled.

"I had a feeling you'd be coming here," Nathan shrugged. "So, tell me Beast Boy, how does it feel to have everyone see you for the creature you are?"

"Shut up," Beast Boy said through clenched teeth. "I'm in no mood to deal with your shit right now."

"Too bad," said Nathan and out of his jacket he pulled out his father's hand gun.

Beast Boy looked at the gun and began to laugh. "So? You think I care?" he said. "Go ahead and kill me. I don't want to live anymore anyway."

"My pleasure," said Nathan. "This really is a befitting way to end an unruly animal."

"Whatever, just get it over with," said Beast Boy, looking at the ground.

"Tell me, Beast Boy, how did it feel to see Raven dead on the floor?" asked Nathan.

Hearing this, Beast Boy lifted his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"She must've looked pretty nasty by the time you found her," said Nathan.

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed and he said, "How do you know what happened to her?"

Nathan smiled and said, "Because I did it."

Beast Boy felt his blood run cold. "What?" he said, his rage turning to fury.

"And, let me tell you, I had a ball doing it, too," said Nathan. "Would you like to know how it all happened?"

* * *

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Raven, looking towards him like he was insane. But what her eyes met was not Nathan. "N-Natha-"

The creature swung its giant paw at her, knocking her down to the floor and leaping on her before she even had a chance to summon her powers and save herself. It slashed at her, its sharp claws piercing and breaking through her pale skin. And then, in one hard swipe, he caught her head and knocked her out. He smirked to himself and began biting and clawing her to his heart's content. He tasted her blood and gladly licked his lips.

He stood over his victim feeling very satisfied. Now for the next part of his plan. He made sure his paws were soaked with blood then looked out into the hallway, making sure no one was around. He was about to leave her room when he heard footsteps approaching. He stopped and closed her door, placing his ear to the cold steel to hear whoever it was.

"…maybe tomorrow," said Cyborg's voice.

"You really think he can leave the med bay in that short of time?" Robin's voice asked.

"If he feels up to it, I don't see why he can't go to his own room," said Cyborg.

"I just hope we can trust him not to…" Robin's voice faded away as he and Cyborg turned the corner.

'So, Beast Boy's in the med bay, huh?' Nathan thought. 'Good thing those two came by or I would've gone to his room.'

He slid the door aside and crept along the hallways, remembering where the med bay was from the blueprints of the tower he'd seen. As he went he carefully slashed a wall here and there, letting the blood streak and spread about. He was having far too much fun.

Upon reaching the med bay, he carefully looked inside. He saw Beast Boy fast asleep in a bed. 'Perfect,' he thought evilly. He walked in and made sure his bloody paw prints led right up to the changeling's bed. Once there he changed into his human form. He smeared the remaining blood on Beast Boy's bed and all over his hands. It was then he noticed the bandaged wrists.

"Looks like if I'd waited long enough you'd take care of yourself," Nathan chuckled.

He then took his blanket and began wiping off any of the left over blood, so he wouldn't leave anymore prints. He grabbed a pair of scissors nearby and began cutting up the blanket and quietly tearing it. He did the same to the clothes Beast Boy was wearing. He finished his work and then decided it was time to get out of there. He crept to the med bay door and looked outside to make sure no one was around. Once he was sure the coast was clear he made his escape the same way he'd gotten in. It was a secret he'd never reveal.

* * *

Beast Boy felt something inside of him come alive again. A great weight was lifted off of his very soul! He hadn't done it. He hadn't attacked and tried to kill Raven. He wasn't a horrible animal after all! There was a chance that a part of him really was human.

"So, you did it," he said, clenching his fists. "You attacked Raven and made it look like I did it. Why?"

"Because I wanted everyone to realize what you are," said Nathan. "You're nothing but an animal. And you took Raven away from me. So, goodbye." And with that, he pulled the trigger.

Beast Boy, with his catlike reflexes, moved out of the way of the bullet. "If someone's gonna die tonight, it's gonna be you," Beast Boy growled. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Raven."

"Go ahead," Nathan smirked. "Let's see who'll win the war; the man or the beast."

"If anyone is a beast here," said Beast Boy. "It's you!" And with that he lunged at Nathan.

Back at the tower, the three conscious Titans weren't sure what to do. They knew that had to go after Beast Boy, to make sure he didn't harm himself, but they also wanted to be there when Raven awoke to get the whole story.

"I do not want to find Beast Boy dead again," Starfire cried.

"I don't even know if we can find him," said Cyborg. "He doesn't have his communicator on him."

"We should've done something sooner," said Robin. "How could we have let this go one for this long?"

"And did you guys get the part about him talking about getting the girl and kissing her?" said Cyborg. "He was talking about Raven, right?"

"I believe so," said Starfire.

"I knew it," said Cyborg. "I knew he had a thing for her. But, I gotta admit, I didn't see Raven actually liking him back. Didn't see that one coming."

"How long do you think it will take for Raven to wake up?" asked Starfire.

"Not for a few more hours," said Cyborg.

"I am afraid Beast Boy will cause himself harm before she awakens," said Starfire.

"I don't doubt that," said Cyborg. "We've gotta go find him."

"Alright, but one of us has to stay behind," said Robin.

"Why? She'll be fine," said Cyborg. "She's just going to keep healing herself. And hopefully we'll get B back here before she wakes up."

"Fine, let's go then," said Robin.

The three were about to leave when they heard their alarm going off. They quickly went to their main computer to get the details as to what was going on. There were gunshots being fired in the park.

"What should we do?" asked Starfire.

"We'll split up," said Robin. "Cyborg, you go look for Beast Boy. Star and I will take care of the park." And with that they divided into two groups.

Beast Boy leapt, rolled, ducked, anything to avoid the bullets from Nathan's gun. He didn't fire them off randomly; he took his time, lined up his target, and shot when he thought he could make contact. Beast Boy missed each bullet by mere inches. If it weren't for his quick reflexes he would've been long dead by now.

"Come on, Beast Boy," said Nathan, aiming and watching Beast Boy move around him. "I thought you wanted to die."

"I did," said Beast Boy. "But that was because I thought I was the one who hurt Raven. Now that I know it was you, I'd rather take your life instead of my own."

"It might as well have been you," said Nathan. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had to take such drastic measures to expose what an animal you really are!" He fired and finally made contact, though barely. The bullet grazed Beast Boy's arm and hit a nearby tree. The changeling grabbed his arm in pain, but didn't stop moving.

"I'm not the animal here," said Beast Boy through clenched teeth. "You are!" He finally lunged at Nathan and pinned him to the ground. Nathan wedged the gun between the two of them and pulled the trigger. But there was no shot fired. "Looks like you're out of bullets, Nathan."

"That may be," said Nathan, tossing the gun aside. "But I don't need it." His final words came out as a growl and with that he began to transform. His eyes grew blank, his face converted to a snout, his teeth sharpened and turned to fangs. Beast Boy quickly let him go and backed away, watching this with concern and curiosity. He'd never actually witnessed someone changing into a beast-like form. He knew that this was what happened to him whenever he changed.

A roar echoed through the dark park and caused all of the sleeping birds atop their branches and in their nests to take flight from being startled. The one who was once Nathan had become a large black haired beast. He stared down at Beast Boy as if he'd already won. There was no fear, no doubt, no emotions in his eyes.

"Oh great," Beast Boy muttered.

"Beast Boy!" came the cry of two voices. He turned and saw Robin and Starfire arriving at the scene. They were quite surprised by what they saw before them.

"What's going on?" asked Robin.

"Who is that?" asked Starfire, pointing to the great beast.

"It's Nathan," said Beast Boy. "He's the one who hurt Raven, not me. And now he's trying to kill me."

"Don't worry, we can take him down," said Robin.

"No," said Beast Boy.

"No?" said Starfire.

"He's mine," said Beast Boy. "You two stay back."

"You can't take him on all by yourself!" said Robin.

"Sure I can," said Beast Boy. "He's not as strong as I'd be when I become that creature, so I know I can take him down." He looked at Robin, his eyes full of determination and strength. Robin saw this and nodded.

"But-" began Starfire, but Robin stopped her, taking her shoulder and helping her to take a few steps back.

"This is his fight, Star," said Robin. "Beast Boy, if you need help don't be too stubborn to ask for it."

"Don't worry, Robin," said Beast Boy. "I'm not gonna need any help."

"You are going to turn into a beast as well?" asked Starfire.

Beast Boy smiled. "No," he said. "I won't need to. I'll take him down with my bare hands."


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Chapter 18

The beast that was Nathan charged at Beast Boy, ready to take him out with one swipe. Beast Boy quickly jumped out of the way, trying to figure out his plan of attack. He knew he could defeat Nathan without having to change into anything, but he also knew he it wouldn't be easy.

"Use me!"

Beast Boy groaned as the dreaded voice filled his head again.

"Use me, you fool!"

"I don't need you," said Beast Boy softly, hoping Robin and Starfire didn't hear him talking to himself.

"You'll never beat him unless you use me."

"That's what you think," said Beast Boy as he tumbled out of Nathan's attack again.

He ran after the creature and as he turned around Beast Boy jumped and landed a solid punch to his snout. Nathan staggered a little and shook his face, trying to get rid of the sting in his nose. He then growled and swiped at Beast Boy. His claws caught the changeling right in the chest and ripped through his uniform as well as his skin. Beast Boy stumbled backwards and grabbed at his fresh wounds. Nathan smirked, seeing that he'd hurt him.

"Don't you see? You need me!"

"No, I don't!" Beast Boy growled.

"He'll kill you!"

"Then so be it!" said Beast Boy and he quickly ran to a nearby tree and climbed up to a limb. Nathan saw this and ran to the tree as fast as he could. He leapt up at the tree and, just as he did, Beast Boy jumped down, his foot right in Nathan's face. This sent the two to the ground. Nathan landed hard headfirst with Beast Boy's foot firmly planted on his cheek.

Nathan growled, grabbed Beast Boy's foot, and flung him away like he was a rag doll. Beast Boy landed in the grass on his side and was sure he'd bruised his whole left side. He was in pain, but got to his feet as quickly as he could. Dirt and grass were now in the cuts on his chest and made them ache horribly.

"We must interfere," said Starfire, trying to proceed towards the fight.

"No," said Robin, holding her back. "He'll be fine."

"He has been wounded!" said Starfire.

"He can take it," said Robin. "He's stronger than he looks."

"Yo!" said Cyborg, finally arriving at the scene.

"Cyborg, you are here!" said Starfire.

"Is that Nathan?" said Cyborg, who'd been quickly briefed by Robin on what was going on via communicator.

"Unfortunately, yes," said Robin.

"And we're really not helping B," asked Cyborg.

"No," pouted Starfire. "Robin will not allow us to help him."

"Hey, he made the decision," said Robin. "I'm just enforcing it."

Nathan tackled Beast Boy, who was still recovering from being thrown, to the ground. He got on top of him and began to slash and claw at him relentlessly; just as he had with Raven only an hour before. Beast Boy could do nothing but lay there and take the attack.

"Enough of this! Let's finish him off!"

"Shut up," Beast Boy said through his teeth as he gagged on the smell of his own blood.

"You can't beat him on your own! I'll defeat him with one blow! Let me take over!"

Beast Boy gritted his teeth and tried to think of a way out. Finally, something struck his brain and he quickly put it to action. In between one of Nathan's swipes he clasped his hands together and smashed his combined fists into Nathan's nose, stunning him. Beast Boy took this opportunity to wriggle out from underneath the beast. He crawled a few feet away and tried to recover once more.

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg called out. "Let us help you, man!"

"No," Beast Boy said, out of breath and in pain. "I'll be fine. Just stay back."

Cyborg sighed and said, "He's gonna get himself killed."

"This is what I have said," said Starfire. "We must help him."

"We're not going to help him unless he either asks or really is going to be killed," said Robin. "I know he can do it. He has it in him."

Beast Boy knew he had to do something big and quick. If Nathan attacked him like that again he was certain he wouldn't be able to bounce back. But what could he do? He looked around and finally got an idea. He made eye contact with the recovered Nathan and knew it was now or never. He took off running and Nathan took off after him.

Beast Boy ran as quickly as he could through the park. He knew his destination was a little far off, but if he made it he was sure he could win this fight. He just needed to keep ahead of Nathan. So he ran through the pain, the fatigue, and the inability to breathe. He had to get there, he just had to.

Finally, it came into sight; an old, small, brick building used by the park to store the maintenance equipment. And, on one side, there was a large bush covering it. Beast Boy was lucky enough to approach that side. Upon reaching the bush he stopped and turned around to face Nathan. Just as he suspected, Nathan didn't pause for a moment. He lunged at Beast Boy and grabbed him. Unfortunately, he lunged so fast and so hard that he went right through the bush and right through the brick wall on the other side with a large crash.

The other three Titans quickly arrived at the scene, having had difficulty catching up to the two. They saw the gnarled bush and the hole through the brick wall. Cyborg ripped the bush right out of the ground and threw it aside so they could see. Inside lay Nathan back in his human form amongst a pile of bricks, knocked out. Robin and Cyborg reached inside and pulled him out. Beast Boy lay on his back, apparently knocked out as well.

"Oh, is he alright?" Starfire asked, fearful of her friend's condition.

"He was just pushed through a brick wall," said Cyborg. "I doubt he is."

"Then you'd be damn wrong," groaned Beast Boy. He slowly began to move his aching body and lifted his head up. "Did I win?"

"Yeah, you won," said Robin with a smile.

"Man, how the hell did you do that and not go into a coma?" said Cyborg.

"You guys have always said I've got a thick skull," Beast Boy joked.

"Why is Nathan not as well as you?" asked Starfire, looking at the man who lay on the ground, still out cold.

"Cuz he's not me," said Beast Boy, slowly getting to his feet. "I've got the animal kingdom on my side. He's just a stupid jackass who doused himself with some chemicals."

"You doused yourself with chemicals too, once," said Cyborg.

"Yeah, but that was an accident," said Beast Boy. "No, one of you take him to jail, one of you carry me back to the tower, and one of you help me with my booboos." And with that he collapsed to the ground; his strength completely gone.

"Beast Boy, I believe your booboos are far more severe than you think," said Starfire.

Robin took Nathan to jail while Cyborg and Starfire helped Beast Boy back home. Robin was going to make sure Nathan wasn't going to be given any special treatment because he was the chief of police's son. He even spoke to the chief personally and told him what his son was being charged with; attempted murder. Cyborg soon came down to the station as well with the antidote to make sure Nathan could never transform into a beast again.

Back at the tower, Raven stirred from her healing trance. She gently floated down onto the bed and awoke. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around, confused about her surroundings. She looked over to her side and saw Beast Boy sitting on the edge of another bed with Starfire dressing various wounds on his body.

"Hey, you're awake," he said with a smile.

"Oh, my friend, I am very happy to see you out of your trance," said Starfire, smiling as well.

"What happened?" asked Raven. Then she looked scared for a moment. "Where's Nathan?"

"Jail," said Beast Boy. "Trust me, he's not gonna hurt you again."

"He attacked me," said Raven.

"I know," said Beast Boy. "He told me himself."

Raven got a better look at Beast Boy and said, "What happened to you?"

"I fought Nathan," he said with a victorious smile. "And I won."

"You used your primal side, didn't you," said Raven, her tone lowering in disapproval.

"No, I didn't," said Beast Boy. "I fought him as you see me now. I proved that I don't need my primal side or my changing powers to win a fight."

"He was most amazing," said Starfire, hugging her now bandaged friend. "We are all very proud of him."

"How do you feel?" asked Beast Boy.

"Fine," said Raven. "I'm sure if I didn't have my healing powers I would've died, though."

"I shall tell Cyborg and Robin that you are both well," said Starfire and with that she left.

"Well," Beast Boy said, carefully and stiffly getting off of the bed, "I think I should admit that I was thinking of killing myself again."

"What?" said Raven, her tone shaking the room. "Why?"

"Cuz Nathan made it look like I was the one who'd attacked you," said Beast Boy. "And I knew I couldn't live with myself if that was true." He pulled a chair over beside her bed and sat down, groaning as he did. "Cuz, the truth is, Raven, I'm pretty sure I love you."

Raven wasn't completely shocked by this, what with her ability to feel his emotions, but she was surprised that he admitted it and it was actually true. She bit her lip and looked down at her sheets, a faint blush painting her cheeks.

"Since when are you so bold?" she asked.

"Well," he said, leaning back in the chair, "realizing things about your self puts life in a whole new perspective."

"And just what did you realize?" asked Raven.

"That I'm not an animal," said Beast Boy. "And I don't have to rely on my powers if I don't want to."

Raven softly smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad you've finally realized that."

"So, having learned that no matter what I _am_ human, I feel brave enough to do anything now," said Beast Boy. "And that includes telling you how I feel and even asking you if you'd like to go out with me some time."

Raven couldn't believe the confidence that was exuding from the changeling. He really had had an epiphany that night. Well, she couldn't let things end on a bad note, now, could she?

"Beast Boy, I would very much like to go out with you sometime," she said, still smiling faintly. "Though, I'm going to tell you right now, I don't love you."

"Oh," said Beast Boy, his ears lowering a little bit.

"But," Raven said quickly, "in time, I may learn to. We'll just have to see."

Beast Boy perked up immediately and smiled. "So, you think I can have another kiss?" he asked.

"I don't know about _that_," said Raven.

"Come on!" he laughed. "I fought and beat the guy who tried to kill you today _and_ I learned a lesson. I think I deserve a peck at least."

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well, if you're going to whine about it, then alright," she said. She crawled off of her bed and leaned down to give Beast Boy a quick kiss. Of course, the moment their lips touched Beast Boy grabbed her and kissed her deeply; something Raven didn't mind all that much. Of course, a few seconds in she decided that that was enough and zapped him on the foot with her powers. He released her with a yelp.

"Hey!" he said.

"Come on, I'll help you to your room," she said, helping him out of the chair. "You've certainly earned a good night's sleep after today. And if your primal side acts up you better come straight to me so I can take care of it. If not, we're doing it first thing tomorrow."

"It's a date," said Beast Boy with a smile.


	19. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. But I'd really like to!**

Epilogue

The next day Raven healed all of Beast Boy's wounds, including his wrists. She told the other three Titans the events that led up to them finding her bloody and mauled body on her bedroom floor. She then went down to the police station to tell them this as well so it could be put into Nathan's file. She also spoke to Nathan's father and warned him that if he helped his son in any way he may lose the five Titans that have been keeping the city safe for so many years and may have to actually do his job for once. Needless to say, the chief of police was put in a very tough position. Upon returning to the tower she grabbed Beast Boy and took him up to the roof to take care of his primal side. Beast Boy knew it would do anything Raven requested.

"So, are you ready?" Raven asked.

"Are you kidding?" said Beast Boy, dead serious.

"Alright, let's get this over with," said Raven. "Now, it's going to be strange at first. Just relax and everything should be fine."

The two sat accordingly and closed their eyes, finding their center. They began to chant and soon became lost in a meditative trance. Beast Boy soon found himself in the darkness of his mind. But he jumped when he felt someone take his hand. He looked to his side and there she stood.

"Wow, that was easy," he said with a smile.

"I told you it wouldn't hurt," said Raven. "Now, where is it?"

"I'm right here."

The two turned and saw the creature, sitting obediently. Beast Boy had never seen it behaving so well. He had a good feeling that this really was going to be the cure. Thank God for Raven.

"So, you're the one giving Beast Boy so much trouble, hmm?" said Raven, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at it.

"I'm just doing what's in my nature to do," it said.

"And it's in your nature to not listen to your master?" Raven asked.

"I just want what's best for me," said the creature. "And, since we're the same, that means I want the best for Beast Boy."

"Well what you want for Beast Boy isn't the best for him," said Raven. "You need to go back to sleep and only come forward when you're called upon. And you're to obey, not take control."

"But I'm so much stronger," it said. "It isn't logical for me to not be in charge."

"Your strength is only making Beast Boy weak," said Raven. "And, since you're the same, that means it makes you weak as well."

"Huh," it said. "I think I overlooked that fact."

"It's odd," said Raven, turning to Beast Boy. "Your primal side is oddly more articulate than you are. I'd think your pure animalistic nature would be a bit more dimwitted."

"Don't ask me," said Beast Boy. "I have no idea how my mind works."

"Well, you need to figure it out," said Raven. "It'll probably help you think more clearly. Now, back to you." She turned back to the creature. "If you don't follow my orders then I'll come back and suppress you permanently."

"If you do that, Beast Boy won't be able to use me anymore," it said.

"Does that bother you, Beast Boy?" Raven asked, turning to the changeling.

"Not really," Beast Boy shrugged.

The creature gulped and began to back away. "Fine, I submit. I shall go back to sleep and I'll only wake up when Beast Boy calls upon me," it said, defeated. "But, know this, I'm only doing this because of you, Raven. I'd do anything for you."

"That's good to know," said Raven. "Now off with you."

The creature sighed and headed back into the darkness. Beast Boy immediately felt a great pressure taken off of his being. He sighed as he felt relief at last.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was back out of his mind and on the roof once more. He looked to his side and saw Raven coming out of her trance as well. She turned to him and gave him a small smile.

"Done," she said, simply.

"Wow, that was easy," said Beast Boy. "And I feel better already!"

"Well I would think so," said Raven, setting her feet upon the ground to stand. "And if it ever comes back you tell me and I'll make good on my promise."

"Sounds good to me," said Beast Boy, getting to his feet as well. "Now, about our date…"

"I thought you said this was a date," said Raven.

"This was the ice breaking date," said Beast Boy. "Now we're going to make a real date."

"I'm not sure I like this new bold you," said Raven.

"Hey, you may learn to like it," said Beast Boy with a shrug and he took her hand so the two could leave the roof.

"So, what do we tell the others?" asked Raven.

"I think they kinda already know," said Beast Boy. "I might've let our little kiss slip out when I was about to jump off of the roof last night."

Raven sighed and said, "Well, at least we don't need to worry about things getting awkward."

"So, you wanna go see a movie?" Beast Boy asked. "You can choose."

"How about we have a cup of tea and then we go see a movie," said Raven.

"Sounds good to me," said Beast Boy with a smile. "So, what movie you wanna see?"

"Something with a lot of talking and a complex plot," said Raven.

"Oh," said Beast Boy, shuddering on the inside. "Well, uh, I'm sure we'll have fun."

"If you stay awake through the whole movie we'll go to the arcade afterwards," said Raven.

Beast Boy's ears perked up and he smiled widely. "Awesome! Now that's what I call a date!" he said happily. "You're gonna make me one happy man, Raven."

"You're more than a man, Beast Boy," said Raven, releasing his hand and wrapping her arm around his, so they could be a little closer. "And I think that's what I like about you."

**The End**


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